My trophy, my emperor, my husband
by ladyzaphira
Summary: During the events of "The Frogs of War: Part 1" Attea, taking advantage of the fact that his father was taken hostage by Ben and Rook, officially assumes the command of the Incursean army. She proposes a compromise to the plumbers: She would have given up the invasion and left the earth in peace. All this in exchange of just one thing ... Ben himself.
1. Prologue

Ben woke up suddenly with a gasp, for no apparent reason. He turned his head towards the open window, realizing that it was still dark out there.  
It was still early ...  
The purple curtains that framed the window hung motionless on the sides, despite the wide open doors there was no breeze.

He tried to go back to sleep, without success.  
He kept turning and turning in his bed in an attempt to find a comfortable position, despite the sultry night air was suffocating him.

Why did it have to be SO hot and wet on that damned planet?!

After the umpteenth move he gave up, sighing.

-Well, I might as well get up- the boy thought -I'm thirsty, anyway-  
He reached out to the bedside table and turned on the strange lily-shaped lamp that was resting on it.  
There was a jug of water next to the lamp, along with a glass.

He sat on the edge of the bed, took the jug and poured himself some water.  
Suddenly a thought crossed his mind, like a bolt of lightning, after he placed the empty glass on the bedside table.

That would be the last night he would spend alone in a room.

From the next day he should have slept in the Incursean royal apartments ...  
... He should have slept with her.

Attea.

A shiver ran through his back at the thought, nevertheless he tried to not let himself be completely overwhelmed by the discomfort, just as happened the first evening he had arrived on the planet.  
He shook his head and took a deep breath from his nose.

He had already cried enough.  
From now on, he would no longer shed a single tear, regardless of how it would turn out.

He stood up, glancing at the wrist where the Omnitrix was attached.

He smiled faintly at the slight green glow coming from it, his only comfort in the past few days.  
He touched the dial, with a delicacy he had never had.

All the alien DNAs inside were blocked.  
A blinking exclamation mark appeared while scrolling the list, instead of the whole holographic image of the selected alien.  
He still couldn't transform himself, yet seeing that it still working, somehow, it gave him some comfort.  
No Spidermonckey, no Rath, no Stingfly, no Heatblast, no Way Big, even his "weaker" heroes were unreachable, but he didn't really care.  
The green light of the Omnitrix continued to shine, warm, reassuring ...

That was enough to make him feel less alone, less vulnerable.

Anyway, even if he had all his heroes available it wouldn't have changed anything.  
Of course, Fourarms would have knocked down the doors without spilling even a drop of sweat.  
XLR8 would have crossed the corridors of the building in a matter of seconds, appearing more or less as a blue and black blur at the eyes of the guards.  
Rath and Blitzwolfer would have made their way with bites and claws, while Upchuck would have done it by eating the weapons of the soldiers and spitting on them in form of explosive debris.  
Big Chill would have crossed the walls and reached any spaceship without being seen.

Yeah, any of his heros would have been able to get him out of there ...

... but he wouldn't have dared to leave.

He had given his word, so he would have respected it.

The safety of his planet and everyone who lived there depended on it.

He reached a small armchair near a large round table, on which there were clothes he should have worn the following day lay well folded.  
Traditional Incursian robes, modified especially for him, which only members of the nobility were allowed to wear.  
Or at least that was what Armand had told him.

Not that he cared about that.

Ben caressed them carelessly with one hand, testing the embroideries of the decorations under his fingers, lost in his own thoughts.  
Thoughts of the earth, his family, his friends ...  
All those people important to him who, for the plots of a mocking fate, would not have been present on that day which, in theory, should be the most important in a person's life.

His wedding day.

...

**Hello, I'm Italian and my english may not be very good ^^'**  
**So don't be too strict to me, ok? Except this, I hope you will like this story, see you!**


	2. Attea's proposal

***… a few days ago …***

The chain of events that had led them to that absurd situation had happened at such a speed to leave Ben stunned.

"If I see you close to this system, and I mean EVERYWHERE, my mutated To'kustars will destroy anything they will find that was ever dear to you" said Emperor Milleous.  
The Incursians had invaded the earth, thousands of space cruisers orbited over their heads and who knows how many dozens of mutated and captivated versions of Way Big were happily strolling on the Earth's surface just waiting for Dr. Psychobos to give them permission to let loose.

"No" Ben 10 growled.

Benjamin Tennyson, owner of the Omnitrix and savior of the universe several times, turned to the emperor "You can forget it toad face! I will NEVER leave the earth"

Max Tennyson approached his nephew, placing a hand on his shoulder with a defeated expression on his face.

"Ben, you'd better go" he said, squeezing gently.

"Are you kidding me?!" the boy turned abruptly, staring in shock at his grandfather "Grandpa no, we can't let them win!" he continued stubbornly, despite the fact that his shoulders had begun to tremble.

Ben wasn't stupid, or SO arrogant and conceited that he didn't recognize the gravity of a situation when he saw it, but what the hell?!  
He would have preferred to die than to leave his home in the hands of the Incurseans!

"I didn't allow it VILGAX, or the HIGHBREED or ... !"

"Ben …"

"... I've never run away from a fight and I certainly won't do it now!"

"BEN!" Max hugged his nephew, resting his chin on his head.

Ben gasped in his embrace, shutting up.  
"I thought I lost you today, Ben" confessed the old plumber solver, stroking his back "There is nothing you can do for us now, so go! Please, at least in this way ..." he continued looking him "... I'll know you're still alive"

"G-Grandpa ..."

The boy shook his head, blinking several times to push back the tears that were threatening to slip from his eyes.  
If only he hadn't messed with the Omnitrix, accidentally activating his randomizer function, which not only didn't allow him to freely choose which alien form to transform but also reduced the time of such transformations, they wouldn't have ended in this trouble.

It was all his fault ...

"Grandpa I … I-I'm sorry …" the seventeen-year-old murmured, lowering his head.

"It's going to be all right Ben" his grandfather tried to cheer him up "We'll be fine, you'll see it"

"Truly touching" a female voice sarcastically said, behind them.

Ben glared in the direction of Attea, daughter of Emperor Milleous and first general of his armies.  
His nerves were already tense like violin strings without her making it worse.

He was about to answer her but ...

"... If you are done with your little family drama, I would have a counter-proposal," the princess said, surprising them.  
That was enough to divert the attention of all those present on her, including the one of her father, who widened his eyes.

"What are you talking about Attea?!" the emperor hissed.

"Oh, sorry daddy" she grinned, looking at him "But since, technically, you are still prisoner of the enemy" She gestured with her eyes to the handcuffs that, despite everything, still imprisoned the wrists of the emperor "I AM the one in charge and … well, it happens that I have in mind an agreement far more CONVENIENT than yours for this planet and his people" she grinned.

"WHAT?!" Milleous shouted, taking a few steps forward, furious "How dare you, little ...!"

"Stop right there!" Rook blocked him, kicking him on the knee bend to force him to fall forward in general amazement.  
What? If Attea was really interested in bargaining to stop the invasion as she claimed to be, it was in everyone's interest to make sure that Milleous remained in their hands, wasn't it?

The princess shrugged in front of the scene, ignoring the murderous looks her father was throwing at her.

"Very well, Attea" Max began cautiously, almost unable to believe at the possibility that the situation could truly resolve peacefully "The Incursean army has the earth in his grip and you have our attention, what do you want?"

Attea smiled sneakily.  
"My proposal is very simple Magister" she began, advancing towards Max "I will give order to my army to withdraw and abandon the earth, giving up the invasion"

Max nodded, waiting to her to continue.

"The earth won't have anything to fear from the Incurseans, not anymore, and to do this I ask only two things in return" she continued "First, I want you to make sure that my father will spend the rest of his miserable life in a cell, thus leaving to me the command of the empire"

"Damned degenerate daughter" Milleous growled, looking at her angrily.

"In this way you would walk away clean" Ben muttered angrily, dictated mostly by his being totally powerless in that negotiation.

Max nodded again, ignoring his nephew's comment.

To be honest, he didn't like the idea too, that there was a capricious and unstable teenager like Attea in command of the most aggressive alien empire in the universe, but …  
\- ... If it is to protect the earth- the plumber thought, sighing.  
"Okay, we can agree on this" he said "We will treat Milleous like the criminal he is, in the prison we have here on earth"

"Good, I don't expect anything less" Attea replied satisfied.

Now there was only one last thing left, to end that damned story.

"And the second request?" Max asked.

The ruby-colored eyes of the Incursean princess rested on Ben, squaring him from head to toe.  
"I want Ben Tennyson"

**...**

"I want Ben Tennyson"

"E-Excuse me?!" the boy stammered, blinking in amazement.

No, it couldn't be.  
He had certainly misunderstood, hadn't he? It had to! Attea couldn't have said what he thought she had said, right ...?

"Judging by your bewildered expression, I would say that you understand perfectly honey" the Incursean princess replied.

A sadistically satisfied smile curved her fleshy green lips.

... Or maybe he had just lost consciousness during the clash with the emperor of the alien frogs and he was dreaming.

Too bad that the Incursean warships were still rising above their heads, together with the dozens of giant alien monsters currently scattered around the world, weren't an illusion at all.  
"Come on" Attea snorted, attracting his attention "You can't deny that mine is more than a generous offer, a simple "yes", Tennyson" she continued looking at her nails carelessly "I don't need anything else to abandon this wretched primitive planet and bring back my empire on the borders of last year, outside your galaxy"

"But ... but ..." Ben clenched his fists as the initial shock slowly began to give way to anger "What's the point?! I ... You … YOU DON'T EVEN LIKE ME!" he snapped, spreading his arms.

Max too had been shocked by such a proposal, as had all the other plumbers present who had remained close enough to listen it.

"I am aware of it" Attea nodded.  
"However the Incursean tradition claims that at the time of the new emperor's coronation, or empress in my case, he has to ascend the throne with a worthy companion by his side" she explained "A companion whose value is recognized by all the universe and, well, who has more value than the owner of the Omnitrix, Ben Tennyson?" she ended with a grin.

"You want ... you want to MARRY my nephew" Max exhaled incredulously.

"Precisely" Attea confirmed, then she looked at the boy "Now sweetie, if you don't mind, I would prefer to be at home before dinner so if you were kind enough to come with me ..." she spoke as if everything had already been decided.

"I'm not bloody doing it! FORGET IT!" the young man screamed indignantly, putting his feet on the ground.

The princess' lips curved in a hard line.  
"Maybe I haven't been clear enough Tennyson, it is ME who's holding all the cards here" he hissed, starting to get irritated "Just as the To'kustars who will tear this planet apart if you refuse my proposal"

Ben glanced around desperately, as if hoping to find something that could get him out of that mess, before looking at Attea again.

"You can't be serious ..." he murmured, completely unable to accept such an idea.  
And how could you blame him? He was only seventeen for god's sake! It never crossed his mind to get married.

Much less with a crazy alien frog girl he barely knew!

Not to mention the fact that accepting that proposal, it would have meant saying goodbye forever to his family and his planet.

"Never been more serious in my life" the incursean girl replied "Accept to follow me as my future husband and the Earth will be spared, otherwise, well ..." she shrugged "You can be a smart little monkey when you want Tennyson, I am certain that you are able to imagine what will happen to your precious, little, planet, do you think that your poor hero consciousness would be able to bear the guilt?"

No, he actually didn't believe that his conscience could bear the death of who knows how many millions of people.  
Not after if he was offered the opportunity to intervene.

But would it have been really selfish of him to refuse?

It was his life, after all ...

Ben bit his botton lip in frustration, he didn't know what to do.  
Several moments of silence passed, in which no one dared to say a word, not even Max himself, who was desperately trying to find a way out that situation.  
A way that did not include his beloved grandson forced into an inter-species marriage.

He didn't know much about the Incursean culture, however he had heard that the Incursean's companions who came from different species (often from planets conquered and incorporated into the empire) were considered socially inferior.

It means that despite the status of emperor, Ben would be treated like an ordinary foreign husband, whose word counted less than nothing.

He would have beeen an object, nothing more than a trophy to exhibit for the future empress.

"If ... if I accept your proposal" Ben asked slowly, swallowing hard the lump in his throat "Will you give me your word that you will never attack the earth again?"

"No, Ben" Max exclaimed, unable to restrain himself "You don't have to do this!"

"My only purpose is to ascend to the throne and with my father out of the picture, once married, I will have all the credentials to do it" the princess replied, ignoring the old man's intervention "I have no interest in this planet, so yes, you have my word ... "  
Ben nodded silently.  
"… And our tradition forbids to destroy the planets of origin of the royal consorts anyway" she added with a chuckle "Which, if you think about it, is a double guarantee for you "

"I see …"

The owner of the Omnitrix took a deep breath.

"I accept" he finally said, proudly raising his head.

He had given up on having a normal life years ago, when he chose to wear the Omnitrix again.  
He was a hero and wasn't this what heroes did?

Always sacrifice themself for what's right?

He pretended to not notice the shocks of dismay issued by his grandfather or by Rook and fixed his gaze on Attea who smiled smugly on the other side.

From that moment on, nothing would have been the same.

...

**Hello again! ^^**  
**There's actually a reason if Attea is doing what she's doing, and no, it's not because she's in love with Ben (Hell no) or because some kind of strange revenge againts him.**

**No, her reasons are more ... let's say personal.**

**She wants to become empress at all costs for a reason.**  
**Which is? We'll see it ^^**

**Bye, bye!**


	3. Neo Tongue Topia

To say that Attea was satisfied was an understatement.

From the first moment her father had confided to her his intention to invade the earth, she had spent weeks plotting, bribing, planning everything to the last detail, just like a chess game where the goal was to strip the opponent's king of all his pawns, so that he remained at the mercy of the enemy.

In this sense, Tennyson's involuntary help had been essential, she should have remembered to thank him once she got home.

The princess smiled, enjoying the view from the command post of the mother ship that just a few hours ago belonged to her father.  
From now on it would have been HER position, HER mother ship, HER empire ...

It was almost too good to be true.  
Since her father decided to lock up her mother inside a stasis cell, she has started plotting to appropriate the throne.

Only the Gods knew how many times she had risked going to keep her mother company after each failure.

Luckily, her father had always been too arrogant, too self-confident, to REALLY consider her a threat.  
In his eyes she had always been nothing more than a brat, who seemed to simply like to contradict him, to play being the high commander without any particular talent.  
Always ignored, always underestimated ...  
... But now the time of humiliations, punishments and threats was over!

Now she would have been in charge, while the now EX Emperor Milleous would have rotted in the plumbers' prison.

Of course, all this once she has completed that "tiny" formality that was her wedding.

Talking about it ...

Attea glanced over her shoulder at who had officially become her future husband.  
Tennyson sat behind, two or three meters apart, more precisely on one of the seats positioned near the large windows that showed outside.  
Unlike what she would have expected, the human hadn't said a single word since he set foot on the spaceship.

No provocation, no sharp comments, nothing.

All the time he had simply remained so, still and silent, with his elbow resting on the edge of the window and the hand under his chin staring at that immense black cloack studded with shine dots that was the universe.

-So you can shut up, when you want- the alien princess thought, looking back in front of her.

Good, as long as he remained silent, he would have spared her useless complaints.  
Complaints that, Attea was sure, sooner or later would have come.

After all, you could have said anything about Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, except that he was the submissive or enslaved type of boy and if he hadn't said anything yet it was probably because he was still metabolizing what had happened in the last few hours.

Not that Attea felt the least guilty.

From her point of view, the agreement she proposed to the plumbers was more that fair, even generous.  
With the mutated To'kustars monsters around the world ready to destroy entire cities in a matter of seconds, she was the only one who was in a position to make claims.  
If only she had wished so, she could have decided to keep the planet as a colony, enslave all the inhabitants and then take their precious "hero" away by force.  
And Tennyson couldn't have done anything to prevent it.

As far as she was concerned, he should have felt grateful to her, if not HONORED.

She was still the princess of one of the most powerful and feared empires in the known universe!

-Despair as much as you want Tennyson, a pact is a pact- the future empress thought before returning to focus on the journey.

Ben, for his part, was actually trying hard to not think.  
The frog princess demanded that he immediately follow her to "Neo Tongue Topia", or whatever the name was, the capital of the Incursian empire, where the ceremony would take place.

The clothes he was wearing, his cell phone, his plumber badge and a coupon for a free smoothie were the only things that had gone up with him on that spaceship.  
She hadn't even had the good taste to allow him to say goodbye to his family, his friends ...  
God! The mere idea that his parents should have seen him leave the earth, perhaps forever, with Attea through the screen of a stupid TV made his blood boil.

Not to mention his cousin Gwen, Kevin and all those people who knew him and loved him.

He'd had to bite his lips several times to refrain from saying anything out of place.  
Until he was sure that the Incursean fleet had left their galaxy he hadn't wanted to risk blowing everything up, however much he wanted.

In the end, with the passing of the hours, the anger had simply given way to a gloomy sadness.

"I'm so sorry guys ..." he whispered, looking at the Omnitrix that, for some reason that at this point he wasn't even interested in knowing, seemed to have died.

Not that it was the first time that such a thing happened, but at least seeing it active would have given him some form of comfort and instead ...

… As if he wasn't already depressed enough.

**...**

Ben didn't know much about the Incursean history.  
Besides, it wasn't like that he had ever bothered to do some research or ask his grandfather if he knew something about it.

His informations were limited to the fact that the original planet of the Incurseans had been destroyed by the improper use of Ascalon, the famous sword invented by Azmuth himself several centuries before he decided to create the Ominitrix, which reduced it to a mere cluster of asteroids.  
At the time, the Incurseans were in the midst of a bloody civil war, a war that this warrior had hoped to end thanks to the power of the sword, without success.

What happen to that mysterious warrior who had managed to steal Azmuth's sword? Nobody knows it.

The only certain thing it's that he wasn't an Incursean.

Since then, the Incursians had become a nomadic people, whose majority of individuals lived on their massive warships, some of which were so big to be considered real self-propelled cities.

Food, materials and whatever else they needed came mainly from the colonies of the conquered planets that had not been destroyed.  
Including the one where the new capital was built, a small desert planet roughly the size of Pluto.

"Welcome to Neo Tongue Topia, Tennyson" Attea announced with a satisfied grin, once they got off the ship.

Ben looked around, curious, despite the situation.

"So, is this the capital?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's right, my ancestors decided to rebuild here the old capital, Tongue Topia, after centuries of research" the princess said, putting her hands on her hips "In truth, they did it out of nostalgia for the old traditions than out of actual need, here we organize political meetings, celebrate our holidays ... " she stared at him, unable to hold back a provocative smile.  
" ... and our ceremonies "

Ben glanced at her at the last sentence, clenching his fists.

"If I agreed to participate this charade" the boy hissed "It was only to protect my planet" he remembered her, taking a couple of steps forward.

"But if you think I'll sit around and play the good hubby role, you're wrong!"

Attea's smile faded.  
"Oh, I assure you that I'm not interested in playing the good wifey role either, you can be sure about it" the princess made clear, narrowing her eyes annoyed "Our union is a pure formality that I need to ascend to the throne"

And Ben would have liked to know why the hell this so-called "formality" was SO necessary, she was already the high commander!  
The Incursean army responded to her and this, technically speaking, already putted her in charge of the empire.

Seriusly, only the title changed!

He didn't really understand this obligation, nor he did care to do it.  
He only wished he could go back home.

"... Tennyson! Are you listening to me?!" Attea snapped, snatching him from his thoughts.  
It was then that he noticed that a slightly lower than normal Incursean had appeared next to the future empress, dressed in a purple suit with black details.

"I was saying" Attea went on, without even waiting for him to reply "Froguis will accompany you to your room"

"My ... my room?" Ben said, blinking skeptically.

"That's what I said" she replied "What? Did you think that I would keep you in chains in our prisons until the "I do" moment or something like that?"

"Something like that, actually" but Ben didn't say it.

Anyway, again, Attea didn't expect an answer from him and went in the opposite direction without saying anything else, leaving him in the care of this Frogu- ... something.  
So Ben found himself following the raider, who occasionally glanced behind his back just to be sure he was following him.

He guided him along the second floor of the building in total silence, until they reached the room that interested them.

Despite the architecture with an ancient style, the door of the room had a highly technological electronic lock, in some ways similar to the many that he had already seen in the plumber structures.  
"Here, this is your room, the lock has been programmed to respond exclusively to your DNA and that of Princess Attea" he explained, moving to let him get closer to the equipment "Until the evening before the wedding, you will stay here"

Then he showed Ben a panel with a kind of pointed protuberance next to it, similar to a thorn.

The young human needed a few moments to put together the information that had been given to him and thus understand what he had to do to open the door.  
-Do they seriously expect that I prick my finger every time to open a damned door?- he thought bewildered –It seems almost like making a deal with the devil-  
Ah well, thinking about it, what else he could be expected from a race of sadistic warmongers?

Blood tolls, of course.

However, he avoided complaining out loud and, without saying a word, pricked his finger letting a single drop of blood fall on the panel.

"DNA recognized: Benjamin Kirby Tennyson ..." an electronic voice said.

The door opened and Ben stood motionless in the doorway.

"If you are hungry there is a touch-screen next to the bed which is connected directly to the system of the entire structure, the servants will answer and come to you" the servant quickly informed him with a cold tone "You will have plenty of time to wash yourself and change your clothes, the closet contains some ones that I think you can find comfortable, the bathroom is behind that door at the end of the room, all clear?"

"Yeah, sure" Ben replied as he took a few shy steps into the room, though he hadn't really listened to him, too busy with his own thoughts.

"For the moment you are not allowed to leave your room, princess' orden" the servant concluded "Oh, and one last thing ..."

The lips of the Incursean servant curved for the first time in a cruelly amused smile.

"Wipe that gloomy look off your face and smile! After all, you are going to MARRY"

That son of …!

It was that hint of intrinsic malice of that last sentence that reawakened Ben's attention, causing him to turn to the incursean willing to respond.

Too bad that the alien didn't give him the chance because the door shutted in his face.

He remainded still to stare at the closed door of his new room while thinking about how much he would have liked to punch someone (possibly Frogua-Frogui-... Who-cares-which-is-his-fucking-name?), until his shoulders were shaken by a shudder.

A slight metallic thud rang in the room as his knuckles collided with the surface of the door.

Ben gritted his teeth, trying unsuccessfully to hold back the tears that, regardless of pride, began to slide down his cheeks.

...

**Here we are!**  
**Neo Tounge Topia, what will happen to Ben now?**

**Thanks to everyone who decided to read this story, I hope you like it! ^^**


	4. Boann Neptune

Once Tennyson was dismissed, Attea went to his father's study or, better to say, HER study now given the state of things.

She couldn't hold back a small grin at the thought.  
There she would find the necessary documentation, the procedures and everything she needed to organize the ceremony, especially the part that involved her coronation.

The princess was determined to make sure it all happened on the same day.

It wasn't her intention to waste time.

The guards let her pass without asking questions, unlocking the door for her and thus allowing her access to the studies.  
Daddy's one was the largest, at the end of the corridor, with a rich library.  
She spent the following hours there, so busy with her research that she even forgot to orden the servans to bring her something to eat.

"... I see you are not wasting time, Attea" suddenly commented a voice, attracting her attention, while someone's long and subtle shadow extended along the desk.

Attea looked up from the papers in her hand, puffing.

She didn't need to turn her head to find out who it was.  
"Lady Boann" she greeted coldly, annoyed by the interruption "What an honor, I thought that after the news of what had happened on Earth I would find you celebrating in the great hall"

"I have been tempted"

"What held you back?"

"Dignity, my dear, a factor that I hope you will keep in mind when you are crowned empress ..."

Attea's eyes narrowed, turning to look at her.

A creature with a humanoid shape, similar to that of an earthly woman but with characteristics belonging to the marine world, returned her gaze.  
She was tall, very tall, like over eight feet tall wrapped in pale, blue skin, along the whole area of the torso and shoulders, which then faded into the beautiful intense blue from the waist down, with wide celestial spots behind her back.  
She had thick blue hair, which moved down to mid-back, and large ruby eyes, without pupils.

Her name was Lady Boann Neptune, the third wife of emperor Milleus and Attea's current stepmother, from the planet Atlantis.

"So, you actually did it ..." resumed the Atlantean, approaching "... You have finally achieved your goal, dethrone your father and take command, your uncle Rospus was quite upset"  
"As if I care about what that snake thinks, rather did you get my encrypted message?" Attea muttered, changing the subject.  
"Yes, I have already organized a small research team" confirmed Neptune with an elegant nod "Trustworthy people, they will sift the whole city to find ... you-know-what, discreetly"

Attea nodded satisfied, then stood up and turned to look at the panorama below outside the large central window of the study.

"I know for sure that is here where my father hid her" she hissed, more to herself than to her stepmother to be honest, keeping her hands behind her back "Locked in a damned capsule somewhere for almost fourteen years"  
"It's only a matter of time" the Atlantean reassured "Neo Tongue Topia is big but like all cities has borders to limit it, we'll find her Attea"

The incursean nodded, looking at the landscape outside the window for a few more moments before returning to her documents.

"I haven't yet had the pleasure to meet your promised husband" Neptune said, after several moments of silence.

"Tennyson?" Attea rolled her eyes, waving a hand with total carelessness "Yeah, I had him accompanied and locked up in the room that I had prepared for him"

"Locked up?"

"As you can see, I had more important things to deal with than wasting my time with him" the princess said, pointing to the books and various papers scattered on the desk.

"Darling, maybe I'll be wrong" lady Neptune sighed, shaking her head "But I don't think treating the boy like a prisoner is the best way to win his affection"  
"Who told you I want his affection?!" Attea replied "Tennyson is only a means to achieve a goal, I have no feeling for him"

"I wasn't suggesting otherwise"

"Really? Then WHAT were you suggesting?"

"Attea, you will agree with me that everything will be much simpler if you show yourself at least ... courteous, towards that boy" her stepmother suggested "You have already been lucky enough that he accepted your blackmail so easily without ..."

"LUCKY?!"

Attea screamed, slamming her hands violently on the table.  
"The only one who has been lucky here is Tennyson! He should only be grateful that I was generous enough to offer him this deal!"

Neptune said nothing, merely stepping back to give her some space.

"If I had been like my father at this hour his stupid, little, planet would have been reduced to a heap of rock's fragments and YOU KNOW IT ...!"

She hadn't even realized that she was actually screaming in the face of her stepmother until she noticed the sad expression that had formed on her face.  
Attea blinked, before looking away with almost shame "Forgive me" she murmured, staring at the ground "I was … disrespectful, it wasn't my intention, not with you"

The princess wasn't the type of person accustomed to apologizing, yet Neptune was the only one who managed to get those words out of her mouth with a simple glance.

"You are forgiven" the older woman assured, placing a hand on her shoulder "I know you have many things to think about but, please Attea, at least try to be nice to that boy"

"Boann ..."

"He's a hero after all, and if you play your cards right, who knows? He may even spontaneously decide to help you reach your goal"

"I don't need his help, only he stays in his place"

Having said that, Attea arranged the documents she was most interested in and left the study without adding anything else.

"My dear, appropriating the throne was the easiest part of the plan but to be able to keep it I fear that you will need much more than just determination ..." the Atlantean sighed, shaking her head.

… Especially with people like Rospus around.

...

**Hello guys! ^^  
Sorry for the short chapter, but I needed it to introduce my OC Neptune, Attea's stepmother, along with some hints of what the intentions of our incursean princess are.  
She's looking for someone and I'm sure you can try to guess who ^^**

**The next chapter will be longer, I promise, and we'll see how Ben is doing with some other OC of mine**


	5. Meeting new people

Ben didn't eat anything that evening.  
He just tried to reactivate the Omnitrix all the time, without success, until he ended up falling asleep until the following morning.

He was so tired, both mentally and physically.

Once awake, he found himself lying on the bed of … "his room", yeah, almost in the exact position where he had fallen asleep, the sheet slightly damp in the places where his tears had fallen.

Obviously he still wore his pants and his beloved black and green short-sleeved T-shirt with the white "10" printed on the center of the chest, which had not come out very well from his last adventure over the Milleous' spaceship.  
The edge was scorched and there were several tears along the side and on the sleeves.

Oh well, if nothing else, he had managed to remember to take off his shoes before slipping into sleep.

An insistent "knock-knock" at the door woke him up.

They had to be the servants his companion had told him about.  
Ben got up and, walking the short distance that separated the bed from the door with bare feet, he happened to glance his reflection the mirror hanging on the wall.  
"Wow, I've definitely seen better days" he commented.  
Seriously, he looked horrible! His brown hair was messy (more than it usually was anyway) and his face was visibly streaked with tears, not to mention the dark circles.

"... My lord, are you awake?" a gentle voice was heard from behind the door.

A female voice.

-My Lord?-  
Well, it certainly wasn't Attea, in no universe she would ever call him that way.

Better this way.

At that moment he just couldn't bear to see her.

"Er yeah, just a moment!" Ben replied, running away to the bathroom to quickly wash his face, so he could erase any trace of the tears from the night before.

He also tried, without really wanting, to adjust his hair with his hands only to shrug and abandon them as they were at the end.  
Besides, it wasn't that he cared about looking good for anyone, on the contrary, considering the state of things, perhaps it would have been better for him to do the exact opposite.  
Who knows? Maybe he would have convinced Attea to let him go out of exasperation.

But the signs of crying had to absolutely disappear!

"I'm coming!" the holder of the Omnitrix exclaimed opening the door …  
… Or at least, that would have been his intention if that hadn't been closed from the outside.

As soon as he realized it, the servant's words came back to him.

_"For the moment you are not allowed to leave your room, princess' orden"_

-If only the Omnitrix decided to work !- the young human thought angrily, looking at the device.  
Humungousaur would have knocked down the door in one fell swoop.

"… Well" he was forced to say "I would let you in, but the door ..."

"Oh right! I'm so careless!" the voice replied on the other side "Forgive me sir, I forgot they had locked you in, just wait a moment"

Time a few seconds and the door was opened.

A young anthropomorphic looking alien entered the room.  
She was more or less as tall as him, perhaps just a bit more lower, several ivory protrusions stood out on her head, similar to small pointed horns, perfectly arranged in a circle that seem like a crown.  
Her skin was shiny and scaly, like a reptile, it had a beautiful intense green without the slightest trace of body hair.  
She was bald, had large golden almond eyes highlighted by the electric blue sclera.  
She wore a standard black outfit with purple details, in her case divided into a jacket and a knee-length skirt, which he had already seen on the simple Incurseans soldiers, with the difference that the material used seemed to be less resistant and not adhered perfectly to her body, except for leggings.

"Good morning my lord, my name is Jades and from now on I will be one of your personal servants" she presented herself cheerful, with a bow.

"Oh, er my pleasure ...?" Ben replied softly, looking at her in surprise.

-She's not an Incursean- he realized by observing her physical characteristics.  
Apart from the color of the skin (which however had a brighter shade of green than the Incursean one) she didn't possess any of the physical characteristics typical of their species.

She didn't look like a frog, and he also didn't remember ever seeing an Incursean with horns ...

… wait a moment!

"Wait, you said servants?! FOR ME?"

"Well yes, is there something wrong, my lord?" Jades peeped, changing her expression completely, appearing almost intimidated.

"No, no, there is nothing wrong" the boy hastened to reassure her "It's just … I don't need ..."

"My lady wanted to be sure that you were treated properly, sir" the other said simply.

"Please don't call me "Sir " or "My Lord", okay? Just Ben it's fine" the young man insisted "It's my name, you know?"

Jades nodded and, for some reason, for a moment her smile grew smaller, sad.

Oh, she knew perfectly well who that boy was.  
The news of the impending marriage of Princess Attea with the savior of the universe had been readily spread throughout the capital even before the Incursean fleet returned to its home galaxy, including details.  
Therefore the maid knew very well on what surrounding that boy had found himself having to say "yes" to the princess and she admired him for this.  
You had to be really brave and selfless to consent to such a thing.

If she had been in his place she wasn't sure at all that she would have done the same, despite the fact that she was ready to bet that the poor boy, behind that apparently peaceful smile, must have been suffering so much for being torn so violently from his family and his world.

Just like what happened to her lady.

Lady Neptune ...

"I know who you are, Ben Tennyson, the savior of the universe, wielder of the Omnitrix, yes, your fame precedes you my Lor- ... er, Ben" Jades smiled embarrassed "Forgive me, it's that I'm not used to calling the lords of the palace with their first names as if ... as if they were my equal"  
"Well I suppose you won't have known many educated "Lords" then" Ben joked, shrugging.

Jades let out a chuckle, then cleared her throat to get serious again "So, Ben, did you sleep well?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Yes, I would say yes, thank you" the other replied "You are kind"

"Of course!" Jades said with a smile "From now on I will make sure that your stay here will be as pleasant as possible"

"Er oookay?" Ben said, looking increasingly perplexed.

He honestly didn't expect such polite treatment from those who, in the end, were still subject to Attea.

The servant who accompanied him yesterday had been a clear example.  
He had been fairly correct and formal towards him, but at certain points along the way it was evident that the Incursean was making an effort to deal with him.  
Not to mention his "very funny" joke before leaving, if he thought about it, he felt angry.

But perhaps being an asshole was a trait common to the Incurseans alone.

"We could start with a good breakfast!" Jades exclaimed, clapping electrified "What do you say?"

Not even to do it on purpose was the young man's stomach to answer for him by emitting a loud rumbling and with good reason.  
It was from lunch of the day before that he hadn't touched food.

"Eh, maybe a breakfast would not be bad" Ben admitted, scratching the neck embarrassed.

Jades' smile widened.

"Perfect! I will immediately go to the kitchens to say to put aside some meal for you, and ... OH!" she gasped, beating a fist on the open palm of her other hand as if she had suddenly remembered something "I will send ARMAND to your room, so that he can help you to get ready"

"Get ready?" Ben repeated, perplexed "Get ready to do what?"

"Well, you don't want to go down looking like this, do you?" Jades said with a rather eloquent glance at his scruffy and battered appearance "Don't worry, Armand is a real expert about style!"

"But ..."

"I'm going, see you later my Lord- ... er, Ben!"  
Yeah, it would have taken her a while to get used to calling him by his first name.

Having said that she went away, leaving him alone.

Now that he thought about it, hadn't the Incursian servant talked about clothes in the closet?  
Might as well have a look.

Ben walked over to the large white sliding door wardrobe that towered over the room and opened it.  
In no time, not even he had pressed any secret button, the left door of the cabinet stretched like an accordion into several panels, creating a sort of separé while small white neon lights lit up inside that illuminated its content.  
He blinked in surprise at the huge amount of stuff he found there.  
Shirts, pants, and casual T-shirts of all types, fabrics and colors and in the lower drawers he found a lot of clean underwear, no different from that used by humans.

He spent the following five minutes looking at the clothes, especially the T-shirts until someone else came to his room.

"Well, well, well it seems that there is a need for my intervention here" a voice said suddenly.  
Ben spun around, finding himself facing the last alien species he would have ever expected to find inside an Incursean palace.

A conductoid had just entered the room.

The species of FEEDBACK!

"I can't believe it …" the boy murmured, smiling in reflection.  
It was completely the same as his version of the Omnitrix, humanoid, black and white, perhaps just a little thinner.  
And his only eye was yellow instead of green.

He wore an orange scarf around his neck and ... ehy! Was he really wearing shorts with a kind of Hawaiian theme?

"Good morning, sir! You can call me Armand, and you must be the famous Ben Tennyson"

"Hi there!" greeted Ben, unable to help feeling a little euphoric to be talking to a representative of the alien race with whom, for some reason that even he had never been able to explain himself, he felt more in tune to transform "Yeah, it's me"

"Nice to meet you, Jades told me you urgently need a hand" Armand said.

Hands on hips and beaming smile …  
… ok, Ben already liked him!

"So, let's see, I am pleased to note that there is a nice assortment of clothes here, the princess spared no expense"

"Wait, did Attea want me to be filled with clothes?" Ben said skeptically.  
You know how it is, since she wanted to take him away without even giving him time to pack ...

Exactly how long had Attea planned his abduction/marriage?

"For the love of Bob, the opposite would have seemed strange to me, after all you are his promised husband" Armand merely said hurriedly, waving a hand with no care while looking critically at every clothes in the closet "Even if I have something to laugh about the chosen style"  
He glanced towards the human, as if studying him before going back to look at the clothes.

"Yes, there will be a lot of work to do, but don't worry ... " He pointed his finger upward for emphasis "... I will make you a real prince, you have my word!"

Having said that, without any warning he grabbed Ben by the shoulders, starting to push him towards the bathroom.

"W-Wow! Wait, what are you going to do?" the boy squeaked, caught off guard.

"Let's go take a bath" the alien replied convinced, without stopping to push him.

"A BATH?!"

…..

**Come on, Ben! How doesn't like a nice bath?**

**Helloooo there! ^^  
So, what do you think of these new characters? For the moment we have seen Lady Neptune, Jades, and Armand, who will appear other times throughout the story.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**See you soon!**


	6. Never lose the hope

There was no possibility of reply for poor Ben.

Armand filled the tub with hot, almost boiling, water, and then poured into it a strange purple liquid with the same consistency as the oil.  
A pleasant smell, like lavender, invaded the bathroom together with a lot of lilac-colored bubbles.  
After that, the conductoid unceremoniously took off his t-shirt, heedless of his protests, and urged him to do the same with the rest of his clothes.

He didn't leave Ben alone even for a moment and he personally washed his hair, his back and the rest of his body.

Thank goodness he wasn't SO scrupulous to wash CERTAIN areas personally, letting Ben do it, to great relief of the human.

"No, no, no! Thank you!" the seventeen-year-old squeaked with embarrassment, stopping the conductoid's arm before it could go down more than necessary "I'll do myself there, okay?"  
"Oh okay, if you insist …" Armand replied, looking just puzzled.  
Moreover, not all alien species had the same sense of "decency" that humans had and Armand really didn't seem bothered to see him naked.

After the bath, Armand pulled out every single item of clothing of the closet, forcing the boy to try them ALL, from the first to the last, wanting to decide which ones to keep and which to replace.

It took a long time to satisfy him and Ben in the meantime was starving!

"You can't go down without wearing something decent!" the conductoid said, narrowing his only yellow eye.

"What do you have against my t-shirt and jeans?" Ben said upset.  
The t-shirt in particular lay abandoned on the back of the armchair next to the bed, still creased, torn and stained.

Ok, he was aware that at that moment it wasn't giving his best in those conditions but still ...

... It was HIS t-shirt!

"Well, maybe with a cleaning up ..." Armand thought, massaging his chin with one hand "All right, if you really care about it, I'll have it taken to the laundry, okay? It will come back as new, I promise"  
"Thanks, I guess …"

When the torture ended, Ben found himself tucked into a light but elegant green shirt and a pair of simple black pants.

Stylistic frenzy aside, Armand had been very kind to him, not to mention that his constant chatter had helped him distract his mind from thoughts that would otherwise have been gloomy.  
"Personally I have always found the concept of "dressing" of the other species extremely fascinating" Armand said "I would not mind if one day my people also decided to adopt such a habit, as myself do already"  
"Indeed, every time I turn into Feedback, I never feel the need to … well, cover my body" Ben admitted.  
"This is because we conductoids don't have a real need to dress" the alien explained "Our skin is naturally very thick and insulating, it protects us equally from both too hot and too cold, and we don't have the concept of ... how did you call it?"  
"Decency?"  
"Yes, that! We are not ashamed to show our body"

"Then, why are you wearing shorts?" Ben asked, genuinely curious.

"Because I LOVE them! The colors, the designs, the style!" Armand exclaimed enthusiastically "Just because you don't need something, that doesn't mean you MUST live without it, don't you think?"

"I see" the boy nodded, finishing tying his shoes.

Jades came back just a couple of minutes later, to accompany him to the dining room.

It was a large hall with a monumental marble stone fireplace surmounted by a bust of Emperor Milleous (not narcissistic at all, huh?), large windows draped with purple curtains, elegant furniture and a very long rectangular table, which it could have hosted, if he had to guess, at least forty diners.

Ben was made to sit at a corner of the table, near the fireplace.

"Wow" the boy murmured, looking around.  
He wondered if could take a stroll later, maybe if he asked Jades ...

Serving the meal were five waiters belonging to different alien species whom, as in the case of the conductoid, he never expected to find there.  
He had arrived on the planet already resigned to the idea that he would live the rest of his life imprisoned somewhere surrounded by ugly toads, the knowing that he wouldn't only see green, slimy and hostile faces, consolated him ...  
... The sight of breakfast instead a little less.

"Er, not to be picky but ..." he smiled nervously, pointing to the bowl in front of him "What exactly is this?"

"It's a blah, blah, blah ..."

… Aaand a whole series of ingredients of which he had no idea what they were.  
-And I was complaining about Mum's healthy cooking ... – Ben thought, feeling a pang in his heart at the thought of his parents.

He would have given anything to be able to see them at that moment, talk to them.

Tell them how sorry he was for leaving them.

"Ben, are you all right?" Jades asked worried, having noticed the sudden change of expression of the human.

"I'm … I'm fine, just thinking" Ben replied.  
"At what?"

"… Home"

**….**

Meanwhile, on Earth Tennyson house had never been as crowded as it was at the time.  
In the house there were, in addition to the spouses Tennyson, grandpa Max, Gwen, her parents, Kevin and finally Rook, Ben's partner.

"How could you ... ?!" Sandra Tennyson, Ben's mother, began turning to Max.

The poor woman had spent all the night sleepless since she had knew what happend to her son.  
Her eyes were visibly red with tears and her shoulders trembled violently despite the comforting grip of her husband, who was trying to be strong for her "... How could you allow it?" she continued to scream "How could you allow that horrible creature to take my son away?! How? HOW?!"

"Believe me Sandra, I'm so sorry ..." Max tried to explain.

"OH, YOU ARE SORRY! I don't make anything with your apologies!" Sandra snapped "My son was just taken from me, on live TV! And Neither you nor your precious plumbers ... " she looked at Rook, who lowered his head unable to return her gaze " ... have done NOTHING to prevent it!"

"S-Sandra honey, please calm down" Carl tried to calm her down "Pick on my father won't solve the situation"

Sandra shook her head as new tears began to run down her cheeks.

"My boy, my babe..." she abruptly moved away from her husband, hiding her face in her hands "They took my babe away"

"G-Grandpa" Gwen murmured, biting her lip uncomfortably "There must be something we can do, right? I mean, forcing a person to get marry against his will it IS a crime, the plumbers ... "  
"There is nothing they can do" Max sighed bitterly "Attea made a proposal that Ben consciously accepted"

"Proposal? Attea's deal was not a proposal but a blackmail!" Kevin intervened angrily.

"Even so, the plumbers couldn't do anything but ascertain that the Incursean Empire was legitimately in a position of advantage to make requests through its representative, Attea, who however wasn't yet officially Empress" the old Magister replied "We can process individuals for war crimes (like Milleous), but not an entire population or who represents it"

"What the hell does that mean?" Kevin replied.

"It means that officially it's like if we are keeping Emperor Milleous in prison ALSO for the crimes of Attea" Rook whispered dejected.

"But ... but this is crazy!"

"What about the Casey-Kelly Accords?" Gwen attempted "They are recognized by most civilizations in the known universe, right? There must be some law that we can appeal to"  
"The Incursians have never signed them and in any case the Accords have been drawn up to try to limit as much as possible the bloodsheds between two or more nations involved in a conflict, in fact, in addition to the rules of the "Conqueror's Challenge", even a marriage proposal is considered a valid alternative to a war with millions of possible victims actually" Max said, massaging the gap between his eyes, tired.

"So there is ... there is r-really nothing we can do?" Gwen peeped, feeling her heart tighten in a painful grip.  
-Oh Ben ... - she thought, sadly.

Kevin put an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders, holding her close in an attempt to give her some comfort.

A dark silence fell in the living room of that house.

"It's all our fault" Sandra said suddenly, glancing at Carl "We should never have allowed Ben to keep that damned device!"  
Wait, was she talking about the Omnitrix?  
"If only we had imposed ourselves, now Ben would have been just a normal boy with a normal life and ..." her last words broke between sobs "... and h-he would be here, with us, safe"

"Aunt Sandra, don't say that" Gwen said "Ben saved lives, he saved the earth, the universe ..."

"I would GLADLY watch the world shatter into dust if it meant getting my son back!" Sandra ran away before anyone could stop her, slamming the door of her bedroom violently behind her.

"Forgive her, she's ... she's shocked" Carl said "And I don't know what to do to make her feel better, when I feel the same sorrow too"  
"Just go to her, son" Max said sympathetically "She need you"

"I can't believe it ended like this" Kevin said "We have to do something, it's Benji we're talking about!"

"Like what?" Rook said bitterly.

"I don't know! SOMETHING!"  
"... Maybe we can't prevent the wedding" Gwen's mother tried to intervene, who had remained on the sidelines until then "However, I don't think there is any kind of space law that prevents you from participating"

All the current ones widened their eyes at that sentence, taken aback.

"Right, Max?" the other Mrs. Tennyson followed.

" … No, actually no" the Magister confirmed, starting to think.

"In that case, maybe you should start packing, it's not much but at least it's a start" Gwen's mother concluded with a gentle smile.  
"But how do we penetrate into the Incursean space? I don't think Attea or her army will let us pass quietly" Kevin said.

"You're right Kevin" Max nodded "The Incursean would never allow the plumbers to cross over into their territory, but …" for the first time since he had entered that house he smiled "… maybe we can get a ride from someone else"

...

**Poor Ben :(  
**

**He misses his home, if nothing else Armand's company cheered him up a bit.  
**

**In the meantime, even on Earth it cannot be said that they are jumping for joy, especially Sandra, b****ut at least now Max seems to have a plan, or the beginnig of a plan.**

**Next chapter, Ben will meet Neptune and the two will have a little chat.**

**Thank you very much to everyone!  
Thanks to all those who are following my story and those who have put it among their favorites, I didn't expect so many people to like it.**

**See you!**


	7. The library 1st part

"... Curiosity is not a sin, my boy, but you should learn to be a little more cautious"

The Omnitrix wielder winced, almost risking dropping the book he was holding in his hands while he suddenly turning around with on his face the typical expression of a child caught stealing cookies.

Lady Neptune smiled gently, her arms relaxed at her sides and her fingers intertwined elegantly with each other.  
"Forgive me dear" she said, her tone was soft, gentle, almost maternal "It wasn't my intention to scare you, but I have to say that I didn't expect to find you browsing in my personal library"

"I wasn't browsing around" the boy defended himself, placing the book on a table nearby "And ... and you didn't scare me!" he added proudly, although he was looking at her, literally, from the low to high.

-How tall is this woman?! - Ben thought, blinking.

Anyway he wasn't lying.  
It wasn't his intention to snoop around, he just found himself in front of that library by pure chance.  
After breakfast, Jades had noticed how sad and thoughtful Ben had become, so she proposed to take a tour of the palace to get him distracted a little.

The only problem was that after some time Jades had been called by other servants to carry out other tasks and consequently sha had to leave him alone before she could take him back to his room.

"Don't worry sir, it won't take long" Jades said, smiling encouragingly "You wait for me here, I'll be back soon"  
About an hour had passed since then and there was still no trace of the young servant.

From there to thinking of looking around on his own the step had been short and in the end he was lost.

He had found the library about five minutes ago and he was fascinated by it.  
It was a large circular room, with a very high ceiling painted entirely with what looked like some kind of astronomical map on which were marked stars, constellations and various planets.  
This map continued all along the walls, almost giving the impression of being inside a planetarium.  
Numerous pieces of furniture with shelves full of books were arranged in concentric circles up to the center, where there was a large multi-storey fountain from which water flowed so crystalline that you could be mirrored.

The alien's smile widened.  
"Of course not, you just got lost I guess" Neptune replied "After all this is a very large building, full of rooms, halls and corridors"

"I was looking for Jades" Ben justified, looking around.

"Jades" the other repeated, closing her eyes for a moment, thoughtful "I see, I suppose it's my fault then"

Ben stared at her, frowning in confusion.

"She is a good girl, hard worker, affectionate and capable, but sometimes … she tends to be a little distracted" the Atlantean continued, giggling slightly "Maybe I should have sent someone else to take care of you"

"Wait, YOU sent Jades to me?!" the seventeen-year-old exclaimed surprised.

"I took Jades on my service from the first day she arrived at the palace" she said, ignoring the question "It took me a glance to understand that she wouldn't last long in the hands of any noble Incursean, so I decided to take her as my personal servant" she told " Five years have passed since then"

"Then why did you send her to me?"

Her expression became slightly sadder, while not losing her smile.  
"I just wanted to be sure that you were treated as befits a guest, Benjamin Tennyson" the alien admitted sincere "In this palace the servants of "pure" Incursean race are not many, but those few who are here reveal their contempt for foreign species in a rather eloquent way"

"Oh …" Ben whispered, only to realize then that he hadn't asked her name yet.  
She wasn't an Incursean but she didn't seem like a servant neither.

"I see he already knows who I am, but what did you say your name is?" he asked.

"I didn't say it" Neptune chuckled "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Boann Neptune, the eldest daughter of the royal house Neptune, on the planet Atlantis, and wife of emperor … well, FORMER emperor consider the circumstancee, Milleous"

"HIS WIFE?!"

Ben put both hands to his mouth the moment he realized he had screamed those words, which hadn't been exactly nice of him.

"I-I, uh ... I'm sorry, I didn't meant to ..." he stammered, feeling his cheeks burn with embarrassment "I didn't think ...! I'm sorry for your husband!" he decided to say in the end, all in one breath, hoping he hadn't offended her.

Okay, it wasn't true that he felt sorry for her husband.  
Milleous was a sadistic space dictator and being ousted from Attea and thrown into prison was the least he deserved as far as Ben was concerned, but his wife seemed nice.

In fact how the heck was it possible that such a beautiful woman was married to that hideous toad?

The Atlantean stared at him for several moments, appearing confused …

… then she just burst out laughing.

Her was what is said to be a healthy and long laugh, a hearty laughter, which echoed all along the library.  
Ben would have sworn he had even seen a hint of tears in the alien's eyes.

"... Ahahahahah! Oh, for the seven mirrors of Kida" Lady Neptune took a deep breath, trying to recover from her attack of laughter "My dear, there is absolutely nothing you should be sorry for" as she spoke, she approached the fountain in the center of the library, sitting on the edge of it and inviting Ben to do the same with a wave of her hand.

"Seriously?" the boy said, approaching cautious.

"My husband has reaped what he has sown, nothing more, nothing less" Neptune merely said, finally returning serious "I don't rejoice knowing him in prison, because it's not in my nature to feel pleasure for the misfortunes of others, but that doesn't automatically means that this saddens me" she concluded "After all, considering everything he has done, how many innocents have suffered because of him, this is the least that could happen to him ... "

-He practically read my mind- the young man mentally agreed, amazed.  
Then he sat on the edge of the fountain near Neptune, while maintaining some distance.

"So, did you find it interesting?" the Lady began after a while.

"Uh?"

"The book you were reading"  
"Oh that!" Ben scratched his cheek with an finger "A-Actually, I wasn't reading it … I mean, not yet, I had just taken it when you entered"  
"What was the title?"

"Al a-eruttircs ellud ... ercasss eucqua ...?" Ben said, with some difficulty in pronunciation.

A difficulty that seemed to surprise Neptune.  
"That's strange, we talked all the time and you never had a problem speaking my language"

"Soooo that book is written in ...?"

"Atlantis" Neptune answered "How can you not know it if until now ..."

"Oh, it's because of the Omnitrix" the human explained, raising the wrist on which the device was tied "Or rather, the programm of universal translator installed inside it, it allows me to understand and speak all the existing languages, converting these languages into English when I listen to them and English in the language I need to make myself understood when I speak" he continued "Actually I'm speaking in English but the words you hear are in your mother tongue and vice versa"

"Fascinating" the other commented, impressed.

"Yeah, but the translator only works with regards to listening and speaking, the written word is different …"

"In that case, maybe I can tell you the title of the book" the Atlantean smiled understanding "You almost completely misspelled the pronunciation, but I think the words you saw were: Al aruttircs elled ercas eucua - The writing of the sacred waters"

"The writing of the sacred waters?" Ben repeated, instinctively turning his gaze to the fountain's mirror.

"One of my favorite books, a cornerstone of my people's culture" she said nostalgically "The myth wants it to have been one of the first written books of Atlantis"

"Really? What are it talking about?"

"About the history of this water" Neptune said, pointing to the fountain "The water from this fountain comes directly from my home planet and flows inside a closed system of pipes, so that it's not contaminated by normal water"

"How would it be different than other water?" Ben asked.

"It tells the truth" Neptune revealed with an enigmatic smile "Look …"

Having said that, she dipped her right hand in the water of the fountain.  
Immediately something began to appear on the blue skin, a series of phosphorescent blue tattoos with a circular shape began to draw on the back of her hand up to the arm.

There where the skin was covered by water.

"… This water shows your true self, the soul beyond the flesh, It can heal or It can punish, It understands, It learns, It remembers ..."

"Wow ..."

"Do you want to try?"

"What? No, no, thanks, I'm okay" Ben shook his head.  
Just because Neptune seemed nice that didn't mean Ben trusted her, not entirely, she was still a stranger.

Neptune pulled her hand out of the water and her skin immediately returned to normal.

"Anyway, I can teach you if you want" the Lady proposed, after a few moments of silence.

"Teach me?"  
"To read and write Atlantis" she said "Although perhaps in your case it would be more convenient if I began to learn INCURSIS, the Incursean's language"

"Er, no offense but I'm not interested to learn the language of toads" Ben replied grimacing at the thought "If it were up to me I wouldn't even be here ..."

Neptune was about to respond but was interrupted by the arrival of a new character.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here!" suddenly a voice was announced, a male voice, attracting the attention of the two.  
Ben stiffened, the tone was decidedly darker and more sinister than Neptune's.

"Who's there?"

"Rospus ..." the Atlantean simply answered, narrowing her eyes.

...

**I thought about it for a long time and in the end I decided that yes, it may make sense that the Omnitrix recognizes the sounds and the "words" born from them, but it can't recognize the writing.**  
**I think writing is more complex and always comes AFTER the spoken language. **

**Then in this way I wanted to give a sort of explanation (very approximate I admit it) to the fact that all the aliens in the Ben 10 series seem to speak English, when in reality it cannot be like this simple.**  
**I mean it may be plausible that the alien plumbers or the ones in Undertown can speak the human language, since they live and work on Earth, and maybe also the aliens accustomed to travel a lot in our galaxy, but not ALL of them in the universe.**

**They must have their own language.**

**What do you think about it?  
And what do you think about Neptune and Ben first meeting?**

**Next chapter we will finally see this Rospus guy, and a bit of Attea.**

**See you!**


	8. The library 2st part

Lord Rospus looked a lot like Milleous.

He too, like his brother, showed a very robust and imposing physical constitution unlike most of the Incurseans.  
However, Ben couldn't help but notice how Rospus seemed less, how to say ... flaccid? Yep, definitely, compared to the former emperor, with better defined muscles and also slightly taller.  
The green of his skin was darker, with a series of more or less wide spots along the shoulders and the neck.

His eyes were small and piercing, bloody red in color.

Indeed, Ben had to admit that this guy was more fearful than Milleous.

"Ben 10, the savior of the universe" the incursean began with a mocking smile "I was hoping to meet you, but I had resigned myself to the idea that I would have to wait for the wedding day to see the promised husband of my niece"

-Attea is HIS niece? - Ben thought, arching an eyebrow.  
Oh well, with a father like Milleous, there was little to be surprised about.

"Lord Rospus, what a pleasure …" Neptune intervened neutral, while slightly bowing her head in greeting.

"Lady Neptune" the other replied without even looking at her.  
Seriously, he didn't even deign her a courtesy look, taken as he was from staring at Ben with an intensity that made the human feel uncomfortable.

"What are you looking at?" Ben blurted out, after a few moments of tense silence.

"Oh, nothing! I was just wondering what you were doing here" said Rospus "They told me that you had been locked up in your room and that you wouldn't have the permission to go out before the wedding, as the good, little, prisoner you are"  
"Oh really? Well, they said wrong" Ben growled, deliberately skipping the fact that it was thanks to Jades (and Neptune apparently) if he had left that room, since the Omnitrix wasn't working.

"Prisoner?" Neptune repeated in a surprised tone "I'm afraid you misunderstood, my lord ..."  
The Atlantean placed a hand on Ben's shoulder, who shivered under her touch -It is as cold as ice- he thought, giving her a brief glance.

"... Young Benjamin here is a GUEST, not a prisoner" the female concluded "Furthermore, if everything goes as planned, in two days he will also be the new master of this building"

-Two days, in two days I will be a married man- the awareness of this fact left Ben temporarily stunned while Rospus finally turned his attention to Neptune.

"Master, you say, my lady? Do you mean "master" as you have been in these years?" Rospus asked with derision disguised as courtesy "It doesn't seem to me a great leap in quality from being a prisoner"  
"In fact, it is fortunate that Princess Attea isn't like my lord husband, don't you thing?" Neptune replied smoothly.

"Oh, there is no doubt about that" Rospus agreed, crossing his hands behind his back "Indeed, I wonder what will happen to our beloved empire since the future empress doesn't even seem capable of keeping her future groom on a leash ..."

"...What the hell is going on here?!" a female voice, familiar to all the three of them, suddenly burst out.

Attea entered the library followed by a couple of soldiers.  
"Ah, so it was here where you were hiding" visibly irritated the princess hissed staring at Ben who returned the gaze with equally resentment "It seemed to me that Froguis had warned you that you are NOT allowed to leave your room"

"Well, I thought that I made pretty clear that I have no fucking intention of obeying you" the boy said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oooh look at him, you are not married yet and he already dare to answer you" Rospus laughed, turning to his nephew "Between this and the fact that he goes around freely and completely regardless of your orders, dear niece, I begin to think that you have chosen a mate that goes beyond your REAL possibilities"

"I think it is none of your business who I decide to marry, uncle" Attea didn't put even a bit of affection in saying the last word, on the contrary, from the way she was looking at the older incursean she seemed to want to kill him on the spot.

"Oh, but I just say it for your own good" Rospus insisted innocently "You are still in time to replace him with someone more ... docile" he continued "I can take Tennyson as a slave, if you like, I'm sure I could break his spirit better than you can"

Rospus looked at Ben with a smile that to call disturbing was an understatement.

-I'd like to see you TRY toad face- Ben clenched his fists, almost trembling with anger.  
God, what would he give to be able to transform into Humungousaur and launch Rospus against the nearby wall.

However, he was still ready to look the idiot in the eye and tell him that, if it hadn't been for the slight squeeze on his shoulder.

Neptune hadn't taken her hand off his shoulder all the time.  
She slowly moved her head in denial and ... it was strange, she seemed genuinely worried about the turn the conversation was taking.

"Of course, your prestige might be affected a bit, but still ..."

"Everything has already been established" Attea cut short "And there is nothing you can say to make me change my mind, I WILL marry tennyson and I WILL be crowned empress"

"Of course, dear" Rospus said "After all, mine was just a humble suggestion … you know HOW much I care about YOUR interests"  
"Yeah, of course you do" the princess hissed.

Never heard of a more false exchange of sentences, Ben wanted to throw up.

"Well, I'd better go back to my business" Rospus said goodbye, heading towards the exit "See you at dinner, dear niece, Lady Neptune ..."  
Neptune waved a greeting by moving her head while Attea didn't even bother doing anything like.

Attea turned to her stepmother.  
"It was you, wasn't it?" she hissed, looking her badly "Did you send someone to let him out? Jades, I bet, you've always had a soft spot for that bum"  
"I was just trying to be hospitable, dear" the woman justified, calmly.

"You didn't have the authority to do it!" the incursean retorted.

"Dear, since the boy will live with us for a while, I think it's right to allow him to familiarize himself a little with the environment" the other explained, interlacing her hands on her lap "You can't keep him locked up forever, after all and you know it"  
"THAT'S NOT THE POINT …!"  
"Er, excuse me! I don't know how it works here, but on Earth it's actually rude to speak of someone as if they were not there, you know?" Ben snorted.

"You mind your own business! Guards!" Attea snapped, turning to the guards "Accompany Tennyson to his room and this time make sure he STAYS there!"

"Darling, you are not thinking clearly" Neptune said, this time in a more severe tone "This aggressive attitude of yours will NOT lead to anything good"

"I told you …!"

"ATTEA!" the Atlantean declared looking into her eyes "If I am allowing myself to insist on this, it's because we both know that I am right and tell me, have I ever done anything that could damage you?"  
Attea stared at her for several moments, uncertain "... No" she finally answered, bucking her shoulders.

-Wow, I've never seen Attea give up so easily- Ben thought, impressed.

"Then, please, trust me" Neptune murmured softly "My only wish is this situation to be as less burdensome as possible for everyone" she concluded, looking at Attea first and then Ben.

"Uff, fine!" the princess grumbled "Tennyson is allowed to remain in your company and that of your servants, but I warn you monkey boy!" she turned to Ben "If you think you can take advantage of the situation to escape ..."  
"Oh, I assure you that unlike most of the people around you I am a guy of my word" the wielder of the Omnitrix snarled "I PROMISED to stay and I will but for the record, if I wanted to run away, I would have already found a way to do so, you can be sure about that"

"Good for you ..."  
Attea gave him one last sour look before turning on her heels and leaving, she had much more to think about than wasting time with him!

-I hope Neptune knows what she's doing-

...

The Black Hole was a bar made in the style of a saloon in Undertown, its outer sign showed a purple neon black hole with alien writing circling around it.

Despite appearing outside like any other place, the bar didn't enjoy a good reputation, since it used to host a wide range of aliens ... let's say, difficult.  
Bounty hunters, traffickers, even prominent criminals …

"Er, would anyone be kind enough to remind me what we're doing here?" Gwen asked, looking around annoyed by the many sidelong glances that several customers in the place were throwing at her.

To her as to grandpa and Rook for that matter.

Only Kevin seemed to be immune to them, probably because of his old reputation as bad guy.

"We are waiting for our pilot" Max said, tapping his fingers on the bar counter.

"If he goes to places like that he must be a tough guy, huh?" Kevin commented, who unlike his fiancée seemed to feel perfectly comfortable in that environment.  
"He has a certain reputation, yes" Max nodded "He is the best pilot in the sector"

"Which sector, exactly?" Gwen asked, still doubtful.

"Belive me Gwendolyn, he is the only one who can take us to Neo Tongue Topia without causing a diplomatic incident, as he is a free mercenary not affiliated with the plumbers" Rook explained.

"Okay, but who is this guy?" the girl insisted.

"Well, his name is …"

"Rad!" a voice spoke behind them "Rad Dudesman, and you are my customers I suppose"  
They all turned abruptly, facing the last type of alien they would have expected to find in such a place.

"Wait a minute" Kevin began, blinking "You're ... a DUCK?!"

...

So we finally met Rospus, the uncle of Attea, with whom our future empress does not seem to have exactly good relations and we have the entry of Rad.  
I don't know about you guys, but I LOVE this duck! ^^

See you in the next chapter!


	9. So it is done

***... Present day ...***

The water of the bath was lukewarm, neither too hot nor too cold.  
Ben allowed Armand to help him slip into the liquid embrace of the tub without resisting and without complaining, unlike what he had done the first day of his arrival in the capital.

Of course, the fact of being seen naked and washed by an alien still made him feel a little uncomfortable but the talk of the conductoid managed to distract him long enough to overcome the embarrassment.

Armand poured some scented oils into the tub, which in contact with the water raised a lavender fog, after which he took care of rubbing his back well.  
Ben took care of the front, mostly to prevent the other from thinking about it.  
His chatter didn't have the power to distract him SO much, and despite the knowledge that the conductoid wouldn't have trouble touching him in certain areas, the boy had no intention of allowing him.

"You look great!" Armand concluded, visibly satisfied once he helped him get dressed after the bath "I knew I was right to ask the tailors to add green to the formal dress, it's really your color"

The human looked in the mirror.

He wore a ceremonial asymmetric black outfit, with purple details, similar to those used by the peoples of Southeast Asia on his planet, composed of some kind of jacket made of black light silk, more or less long up to the hips and pants of the same color held by a tight green cloth belt.  
Then he wore a green shawl around his right shoulder, above the jacket, that came down wrapping around his arm.

Black and purple were the colors of the empire so they had to be present by force, but Ben was pleased to find some green here and there.

The two days that separated him from that moment had passed quickly, too quickly for Ben's tastes.  
"… Yeah, I guess, thanks Armand" the boy replied, smiling faintly.

"Hey, everything will be fine" Armand encouraged him, giving him comforting taps on the shoulder "You'll see, you're Ben 10 after all"

Knock, knock!

"Uh, sorry" Jades' face timidly peeked out from behind the door "My lord, the time has come"

"Yeah, sure …"

It was incredible how with the hair gathered in a simple high and fluffy tail, of which some curls were currently resting on one of her shoulders, Lady Neptune managed to have an even more regal appearance than she already had.  
"Are you ready?" the Atlantean asked kindly, distracting him from that thought.

Ben glanced uncertainly at the thick dark purple curtain closed in front of him.

It almost looked like that of a theater curtain.

"I … I thought I was, now I'm not really sure" he admitted sincerely.  
"Neither was I, when I got married to Milleous" Neptune said with a bitter smile "Every step I took along the central nave, however short, was exhausting, as if I carried a huge weight on my shoulders"

"Where did you find the strength?" the seventeen-year-old murmured.

He had never felt so small and impotent as at that moment.

"From the awareness that my sacrifice would have made the difference between the life and death of my people" Neptune answered "It's the price we pay for power, I suppose, for me it was being the hereditary princess on my planet, for you it's to be the hero of yours, the serenity lies in believing that it was worth it"

"... All right, I'm ready" Ben took a deep breath "Let's do it"

"Do you remember what you have to do?"

Ben nodded.  
"Incursean are really sadistic warmongers" he snorted.

"To each his own" Neptune smiled sadly, showing him the palm of her hand.  
A thin scar ran diagonally across the blue skin.

"Don't worry, you don't have to cut so deep" she assured.

Ben nibbled his lip nervously "Then how did you …?"

"My kind's skin is very delicate, at least outside of our natural element"  
"The water"  
"Yes …"

They were both silent for a few moments.

"Thank you" Ben said "I mean … for helping me, you, Jades and Armand … I guess you are my only friends here"  
"You are actually less lonely than you think, you just have to learn how to play your cards …" the woman said with an enigmatic smile before accompanying him to the hall.

Tribal style music, mainly given by percussion instruments, filled the immense ceremonial hall, along with the chatter of the many guests.  
Most of them were Incursean, but there were also other types of aliens.  
Usually Ben liked to have people's attention on him, yet this time he found himself doing his best trying to ignore everything and everyone while Neptune accompanied him to the short staircase where two thrones headed.  
One was larger and more decorated, while the other was smaller and simpler.

Well, if nothing else, he wouldn't have confused which of the two was his place.

Attea appeared a few minutes later.

The Incursean princess wore an elegant long, black, purple-beaded dress, without sleeves but with a very high collar that covered her entire chest and neck, leaving only the shoulders uncovered, around the waist stood out a purple decoration similar to an inverted water lily flower from which the skirt came out.  
A transparent purple veil, tied to the gold tiara studded with small amethysts and rubies that she wore over her head, completed the whole.

She was beautiful, Ben couldn't deny that.

Perhaps it was just because it was the first time he had seen her dressed elegantly, but still …  
The total absence of hair, as typical of her species, didn't affect at her all, accomplice also the fact that she actually had beautiful features, full lips and big eyes.

The dress wrapped her like a glove, highlighting the shapes of her body and enhancing them.

Seen in this way she really looked like a princess.

"Do you like what you're seeing, Tennyson?" the princess mockingly asked, since she hadn't missed the amazed expression of the human "Ready for the show?"

"Let's end this quickly" Ben hissed, looking away.

Attea just smiled.  
In another moment she would have enjoyed making fun of him, but now that she was so close to finally fulfilling her purposes, now that she was about to be crowned empress ...

... she was simply too happy to be malicious.

"… You look good with that outfit anyway" she commented without thinking.  
And she was actually sincere.

Of course, Ben looked at her in surprise, but he didn't answer cause he couldn't tell if it was a joke or a real compliment.

It was not at all like an earthly wedding, or at least it didn't look like any ceremony, of any culture of his planet that Ben knew.  
To officiate the ceremony was Raff, former Emperor Milleous' right-hand man, a guy that Ben hadn't seen for some time.

"Hello Ben Tennyson, it's been a long time since we last met …" he greeted him.

"Ehy, Raff" Ben replied without particular enthusiasm.

"Don't waste time and let's start!" Attea ordered, rolling her eyes.

"Of course, your majesty" Raff nodded.

Ben took one last look at the closed doors of the living room, he didn't know why exactly.  
Perhaps he hoped that someone would break in there at any moment, or simply that something, ANYTHING, would stop the ceremony.  
Nothing happened, nobody showed up ...

... He was alone.

A cough brought his attention back.  
"Tennyson ..." said Raff, handing him a dagger with a thin silver blade.

Oh yeah, just like Neptune said.

He took the dagger and made a thin cut on the palm of his right hand.  
Attea had already done the same.

"In the Incursean Empire, bonds are formed in blood" Raff declared, as Ben and Attea braided their injured hands, so that the cuts fit together "Now your lives are linked by blood …"  
Raff tied a dark red ribbon around their joined hands.  
"… Before mortals and gods, do you swear to serve each other in your campaign, against any enemy?"

"I swear it, until I am dead or you have victory" Attea said.  
"I … I swear it, until I am dead or you have victory …" Ben answered, after a brief moment of hesitation.

"UNTIL DEATH OR VICTORY!" some of the spectators shouted.

So it was done.

He and Attea were officially husband and wife.

…

**And so the marriage took plase, simple, immediate and definitive.  
If anyone hoped for some last second rescue I'm afraid he will be disappointed ^^' Just like Ben, ****however, as you have seen the previous chapters were all like a one, big, flashback.**

**Here we are in the present.  
****Next chapter we'll see some ****old acquaintances among the guests.**

**See you!**

**P.S.**

**In describing Ben's outfits I had something like this in mind new-arrivals/charming-black-color-indo-western-17021 but with all the small differences and colors I have named.**


	10. Unexpected gifts

When the sky became tinged with the orange hues of the sunset, Raff clapped his hands several times.

The time had come for the official coronation of Attea as the only and undisputed empress of the deathless Incursean empire.  
"It's with immense pleasure and honor …" Raff began in an exaggeratedly solemn way "… That today, I declare Princess Attea, only daughter of Emperor Milleuos, General, Highest commander of the celebrated Calaveras Legion and blah, blah blah ..."

Ben had been more than happy to step aside, but he stopped listening after just two sentences, rolling his eyes.  
-Just give her that damned crown so we can all go to sleep- he thought exasperated, looking forward to leaving from there.

Seriously, was all that sweet talk really necessary? As if the title of empress wasn't already enough.

As if Attea's ego wasn't already immeasurable.

"... And whoever wishes to challenge the new empress for the throne, step forward now or keep silent forever" Raff continued.

"Wait, challenge?" now, THIS rekindled Ben's attention.

"It's the Incursean law" Neptune, who had taken a seat next to him, informed "Whenever a new emperor, or empress in our case, is crowned, any warrior of the other noble dynasties can step forward and challenge him or her for the throne, however I doubt it will happen ... "  
"Really, why?"  
"Would you challenge someone who was able to defeat and subdue the wielder of the most powerful weapon in the universe?" the woman asked.

"What?! She ... she didn't subdue me!" Ben hissed indignantly.

"But you still married her" Neptune rightly pointed out.  
"She threatened to destroy the Earth!" the boy defended himself, burying his face in his hands "What other choice did I have?"

"None, I know" she nodded sympathetically "But, as you can see, the Incurseans don't linger on certain details ..."

In fact, none of the noble Incurseans present there came forward to challenge Attea.

"So it's decided" Raff concluded, bowing before the former princess "Attea is the new empress of the deathless Incursean empire"

"Let the celebrations begin!" Attea ordered.

In a short time a long line of people was formed.  
It was mostly composed by noble Incurseans, but there were also many representatives of various colonized or conquered planets, together with those of allied kingdoms and empires.  
Each of those people waited for their turn to congratulate and show their gifts to the new royal couple.

The first to come forward was Neptune herself, who placed a little pile of old-looking books in front of Ben.

The human gently took one in his hands, leafing through a few pages and was amazed to read words written in English with a dark purple ink on parchment-like paper.  
-Did she made them write in English just for me?- he thought.

"Stories and tales of the Incursean culture that I made write especially for you, Benjamin" the lady explained with a slight bow "In the hope that they will help you to understand this world and live peacefully with it"

"Thank you" the boy said.

He had never been a great reader but the kindness of the gesture warmed his heart.

Attea, next to him, rolled her eyes looking annoyed, but …  
… then she actually chuckled sweetly to herself, without anyone noticing.

Knowing her stepmother, she had imagined that the Atlantean would have liked to give him such a gift.  
For her instead, Neptune brought a transparent purple veil, embellished with embroidery of silver stars "To be placed on the crown" she explained.

"I will wear it willingly" Attea promised, smiling sincerely.

Later all the other gifts came, many others.  
For the most part, if not all, only for Attea, especially those of the noble Incurseans who did nothing but kiss the empress' ass with phrases such as: "Oh my divine empress" or "A thousand gifts would not be enough to glorify your magnificence" or "Light of the empire, I'm not worthy …" and blah, blah, blah ... all this without ever deigning Ben of a single glance of course"

Not that the boy cared, he was only happy to be able to ignore them too, preferring to browse Neptune's gift until ...

"... Reiny?" Ben said, blinking in amazement.

Reinrassig III, the current Highbreed Supreme, came forward with a supply of ten elements of his kind.  
"Ben-Ben Tennyson, it's an honor for me to see you again" the Supreme began with a slightly accentuated bow "As much as I must admit that the circumstances in which this is happening are somewhat … unexpected"

"Don't tell me" the other said, not believing his eyes.

"Reinrassig III, thank you for coming" Attea greeted.

"Thank to you for the invitation, Empress Attea" Reiny answered, looking at her "The Highbreed empire was delighted to receive your offer of alliance when your father had always rejected the idea"  
"My father was a narrow-minded individual, too tied to outdated traditions, but I have a very different idea of how to make an empire flourish" Attea smiled.  
"In this case, accept our wedding gifts as a sign of our friendship" the Supreme continued, motioning for his guards to bring them.  
"Of course! Thank you"

Then Reiny looked at Ben.  
"Indeed, I have a gift for you too, Ben-Ben Tennyson, if we can call it so"

"For me? What?"

"Bring him here" Reiny simply ordered.

A highbreed advanced with a little bundle of cloth in his arms in which something seemed moving.  
Then a blue and black nose peeked out through the folds of cloth, with a faint squeak.

Ben's eyes widened.

"It can't be …"  
A small Necrofriggian boy lay curled up inside the bundle, small wings wrapped around him and green sleepy eyes -Is it possible that he is ...?-

… He wasn't just any child, he was one of HIS.

"H-Hey, there" Ben murmured, taking him in his arms "How …? What happened to him? Why is his wing bandaged?" he hadn't noticed it immediately because of the cloths, but small light bandages were wrapped around one of the wings.  
"We found him wandering near our system" Reinrassig explained.

"WHAT? Why was he there?" Ben asked.  
-And where were his brothers?-

"Well, sometimes it happens that there are Necrofriggian babies who lag behind the rest of the brood because they are too weak to survive" the Supreme said "In fact normally it wouldn't have interested us if it wasn't that this little one did nothing but repeat your name, or at least part of it, Ben-Ben, which was rather unusual …"  
"I … I thought they were able to survive on their own" Ben murmured to himself in a low voice, frowning.  
He looked down at the child in his arms, who actually looked smaller than normal, then he began to remember.

Big chill had done everything right.  
He had built the nest, laid eggs and made sure that nothing interfered with the hatching.

From that process fourteen Necrofriggian children were born, children who, instinctively, Big Chill knew he had to let go.  
Because that's how it worked, that's how things had to go.

It didn't matter that one of them was visibly smaller and more fragile than the others.  
He had to fly in the cold of space alone.  
If he proved strong enough he would have survived, otherwise ...

"When my subordinates told me about it, I thought he might have something to do with you" Reiny continued "I wasn't sure what to do, but then that I learned about the wedding so I thought to bring him here"

"I see, thanks for bringing him to me, He's …" the human hesitated.  
Nobody knew of his involuntary "paternity" except Gwen, Kevin and Julie, he was also pretty sure that it wasn't present in his plumber file.

"... I will take care of him" he just promised, arranging the baby so that it was more comfortable.

Perhaps it was normal for the Necrofriggians to abandon their children to natural selection, but for humans it wasn't.  
If only he had known before.  
-I wonder if he recognize me- the boy thought -I recognized him-

As if to answer his question, the little Chill blinked, looking at him for the first time and began to squeal happily, shaking and pressing himself against Ben's chest.

"Very well then" Reiny said before turning to his escort "It's time for us to go now, it was a pleasure to see you again Ben-Ben Tennyson, Empress Attea …"  
"Uh? Oh, I wish you a good journey back to your empire, Supreme Reinrassig" Attea smiled.

"See you Reiny" Ben exclaimed "And thanks"

Well, that had been a nice surprise, so nice to make him almost forget the situation he was in ...

"It seems that I'll have to find a suitable name for you" Ben smiled, cradling his baby.  
"Poor him then" Attea commented, who up to that point hadn't listened their speeches about the Necrofriggian mostly because boredom "Your alien forms' names are terrible"  
... ALMOST, stupid frog princess.

"Ehy! My heros' names are awesome!" Ben replied proudly looking at her badly.

"Suuuure, as you say Tennyson" Attea chuckled "The little bug is cute though, I'll let you keep it" she continued perhaps feeling who knows how generous.

"I don't need your permission" the hero hissed.

Luckily, a familiar male voice thought to stop the tiff that was about to arise between the two.  
"… Well, I hope you will take care of that child better that how you usually do with my greatest invention" a voice intervened unexpectedly.

"Uh? AZMUTH?!"

Ben couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the small figure of the first thinker advancing towards him, on a little floating platform.  
"Hello Ben" the inventor of the Omnitrix greeted "You seem surprised to see me"

"W-Well, yeah …" Ben admitted "I m-mean, I'm happy to see you it's just ..."

"I'm actually surprised too" Attea declared narrowing her eyes "I don't remember inviting any Galvan to my wedding"  
"Really? how strange, yet my invitation is right here" Azmuth replied with complete peace of mind, pulling out a small card from which purple writing was projected in midair.  
Above the writings stood out the symbol of the empire, that actually seemed to confirm his words.

"I see …" Attea murmured suspiciously.

"So, I knew that you have activated the randomizer function of the Omnitrix" the galvan muttered, shaking his head "Why doesn't it surprise me?"  
"I … uh, it wasn't my intention to do it" the boy replied, holding his watch arm out to Azmuth "It was an accident"  
"The randomizer function that works in one of two ways: Either the user will continuously change between different aliens every few minutes before timing out, or they will turn into one random alien for an inconsistently short period of time before changing back" Azmuth explained "And if it's not reset in time, the watch goes into a security block phase …"  
"Ooooh, so that's why you changed shape continuously without a logical sense" Attea said, looking at her husband with an amused grin "Nice job, hero"

"Shut up …" Ben growled.

"Nothing its creator can't solve, anyway" Azmuth said, starting to tinker with the Omnitrix "Even if it threw you into a lot of trouble" he added in a low voice.  
When he had had received the signal of the activation of the randomizer function he hadn't worried too much, it was certainly not the first time that Tennyson messed with his greatest invention, but he always managed to find a solution to his troubles.

However, when he received the invitation to the wedding by a certain Lady Neptune, he realized that things must have taken a more ...

… problematic turn.

"I'm sorry" Ben whispered "But you too, can I know why you programmed a randomizer function? what is it for?"

Azmuth just rolled his eyes, ignoring him as he continued to work.  
After a few moments the Omnitrix reactivated with several beeps "Active Mode, restored" said the watch's electronic voice "User: Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, Code: 1010"

"And it is done" Azmuth commented "Consider having re-activated the Omnitrix as my ... wedding gift"

"Wait, that's all? Don't you have anything else to say?" Ben asked.  
He was expecting a lecture of some kind and he would have deserved it ... probably, because, for some reason, Azmuth's silences frightened him more than lectures.

"What can I say? This is just another one of the many messes you got yourself into ..." the galvan replied, crossing his arms behind his back "… Therefore, I presume I have nothing left to do but wait and see how you get out this time, as for the child ..."

"Oh! He is ..."

"I think I know who he is, Ben" Azmuth murmured stroking his chin as he watched the way the little one was holding on Ben "I will transfer information about how to take care of him to your Omnitrix, goodbye Ben"  
And after said that, he left.

...

**Little Chill is HERE!  
**

**Hellooooo everyone! ^^  
So, we saw several familiar faces that brought unexpected gifts to our Ben.  
Now he has a son to take care of and the Omnitrix works again! **

**See you in the next chapter ^^**


	11. The first night together

"BIG CHILL!"

Oh, how much he had missed turning into alien!  
As for why he chose his Necrofriggian form of all the heroes he had available, well ...

"Ben-Ben-Ben ... !" the reason at that moment was squealing in his arms.

The celebrations for Attea's coronation were finally over and the new royal couple had been able to retire to their rooms for the night.  
Attea had been locked in the bathroom for a while, so Ben had decided to take advantage of that moment of relative tranquility it trying to understand where and how to arrange his Little Chill (yeah, he still had to find a suitable name for him).

In truth, the hero wasn't sure if turning into Big Chill was really the best choice to take care of his baby, since he feared that the Necrofriggian's instinct could push him to abandon the child again.

In fact, the first thing that actually crossed the giant blue moth-like alien's mind was trying to encourage the child to fly away on his own, which the little one didn't seem to want at all.  
And Ben could already feel his Necrofriggian side starting to grow impatient.  
Sentences like: "Child is too weak to survive, you have to let him go" or "Child has to go back to his brood, if he can't do it then he will die, nature must decide" began to swirl in his head -No, no, stay in control of yourself Tennyson …- Big Chill thought, forcing those instincts into a distant corner of his brain.  
-… You are NOT a real Necrofriggian, you are human! And you won't abandon your baby, not this time!-

So, after taking a deep breath and tidying up the ideas, the wielder of the Omnitrix began to think about what Little Chill might need.

"First of all, you need a comfortable place to sleep" he decided "Let's see ..."  
He thought of "furnishing" the corner of the part of the bed that faced the wall, near the window.

Big Chill made room by removing the bedside table and, with his freezing breath, created a sort of improvised cot causing the ice to take on a raised concave shape.

For a moment he wondered if Attea would get angry about those small changes, but it was a thought that he quickly liquidated -Well, this is also MY room now, isn't it? And I have the right to arrange my side as I want- he tore apart, not without some satisfaction, some metal cutlery that he had ... er, "borrowed" from the buffet and threw them in the cot.

Instinct told him that the little Necrofriggians a bit older fed on metal, and having spent about two years Little Chill must have already changed his diet.

"There we are" Big Chill concluded admiring his work "What do you think?"

Little Chill, who was napping on the bed, hearing himself called immediately raised his head in his direction.  
"Ben-Ben-Ben!" the baby squeaked clapping his hands and extending the small antennae towards the frozen cot.

"Aaawwh, do you like it?"

A green flash surrounded Big Chill's body, just as he took the baby in his arms, transforming him back into Ben.

"Ben-Ben …!" Little Chill continued, making a sound like a little giggle.  
"Let's see if you're comfortable" Ben smiled putting him in the cot "I'd say it's good, tomorrow I'll ask Jades if she can get me a colored cover or a sheet, so your corner will be even more pretty, huh? How about Little Chill?"

"Ben-Ben-Ben!" Little Chill happily exclaimed, beginning to gnaw on one of Ben's metal bits.

"Tomorrow we'll also have to think about your name" the hero affirmed, stroking his head "I can't keep calling you Little Chill, I mean, it can be fine now, but you won't be small forever, right?" he continued "One day you will grow up and it would be strange still calling you that way ..."

The noise of a door that opens and then closes attracted the boy's attention to the bathroom.

Attea was finally out ...  
... in a nightgown ...

… A nightgown with a transparent skirt!

Attea wore a nightgown, consisting of a lace brassière from which descended a long purple transparent skirt, which showed the slender legs and the thin black panties.

He must have assumed a shocked expression because he saw Attea grin provocatively.

"Well? What is that grim look, husband?"  
Attea pronounced the last word in a ironic, almost playful, way, as if she weren't actually wearing a nightgown, as if they weren't about to share the same bed at least, and as if the entire ceremony in which he had been forcedto marry her, it had been just an innocent performance.

Nothing important.

But Ben's anxiety came mostly from not knowing what the empress's intentions were exactly since, technically, that was their wedding night.

And during the wedding night usually the bride and groom did ...

"N-Nothing, it's just ..." Ben's gaze inevitably fell on the bed, while he tried to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat "Okay, listen! You wanted get married to be crowned empress and blah, blah, blah ... congratulations, you did it! You achieved your goal and now I'm stuck here (probably for the rest of the my life) but it's not like we need to ... well, CONSUMMATE the marriage, right?"  
"Soooo?" she hummed absently, continuing to look herself in the mirror.

"Well, it's not necessary! I mean, it's clear that you are not interested in me in THAT sense …"  
Or at least he hoped so … damn it! Why did he feel so stupid to say it out loud?

It almost seemed like he was trying to convince himself more that her.

"And surely nobody will come to check it, right?" the human moistened his lips suddenly become dry "So …"

"I remind you that you voluntarily accepted to marry me, no one pointed the conquest ray to your back during the ceremony so your complaints are completely out of place" Attea interrupted, waving a hand carelessly, without even turning to look at him.  
As if the prospect of having to "make love" with him doesn't mean anything to her.

Ben stiffened at those words and, albeit for a moment, the thought of having to exchange something more than a kiss with Attea made him feel sick.

It wasn't the idea of doing it with an alien that disgusted him, after all, in his own family there were several alien components, starting with grandma Verdona, or because he found her repellent on a physical level, on the contrary.  
He could say anything about Attea, except for she was, in her own way, attractive, even by what were human standards.  
The problem was another.  
Ben knew perfectly well that he had never been a particularly romantic guy, however even he knew that sharing one's intimacy with another person was a very important step, specially if it was their first time and that wasn't exactly how Ben had imagined his.

The hero growled, clenching both his fists at his sides so hard that his knuckles whitened -Race of hypocrite, lousy, blackmailer ...- he thought.

"However" the new empress continued, finally turning to face him "I assure you that it's not my intention to give birth an heir too soon so you can rest easy, we will NOT do that" she reassured him "Nevertheless we still have to sleep in the same room AND in the same bed, for appearances of course, I'm sure you understand, right?"

Ben had to make a huge effort to refrain from sighing with relief, well, he had escaped THAT at least.  
He shouldn't have touched her more than necessary.

"... Speaking of appearances, now that you are officially my husband you must starting to follow some rules"

The last sentence was enough to bring Ben's concerns back to the surface.

"Rules?" he repeated in fact, stunned.  
"Yes, RULES" Attea stopped straight in front of him "If you respect them, I assure you that your stay here will be as peaceful as possible"

-It's up to the rules- the boy thought, although Attea's proposal seemed good.

Always better than being locked up somewhere for the rest of his life, perhaps even treated as a kind of toy-boy.

He was sure he wouldn't last long in those conditions.

"The royal palace is your home now, so you can go ALMOST wherever you want" Attea began "You must know, however, that there will be times to be respected about the meals since you will eat with me, so you must be punctual" she explained "Same thing applies to the moment we go to sleep: Breakfast at 8:00, lunch at 12:00 and finally dinner at half past seven …"

Ben just nodded, without saying anything.

Be punctual at meals? Ok, he could do that, as much as the idea of having to present himself to attention at any place as if he were his soldier annoyed him a lot.

"If you need something you already know you can turn to the servants" the Incursean continued "You are free to occupy your time as you like but without making trouble and unless I need your presence by my side of course"  
"My presence?"  
"In case my duties as empress lead me to have to attend peace councils or other political or public commitments of a certain importance" Attea clarified.  
"Ah ..."

So he was free to do whatever he wanted until Attea felt the need to expose him to important guests as if he were a damned trophy …

… Hooray.

"Was I clear enough?"

"Crystalline" Ben hissed.

"Good …" Attea looked towards Little Chill "I see that you have taken the liberty of arranging your little bug"  
"Yeah, do you have a problem with that?"  
"… No, that's fine"

Several moments of tense silence passed.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Attea snorted.

"To do what?"  
"You don't want to go to sleep dressed like that, do you? I don't think Armand would like to know that you wrinkled his outfit …"  
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

It turned out that in the closet drawers there were already some singlets and light pants he could use to go to sleep.

Ben settled into his side of the bed as far away as possible from Attea.  
-I can't believe it- the human thought, sighing disconsolate.

The only positive thing: He was so tired that he fell asleep almost immediately …

Attea was awakened in the middle of the night by a series of strange complaints.

The new empress of the Incursean empire turned over in bed, narrowing one eye and yawning.  
"Uhmm, what's going on?" she murmured looking towards the side of the bed where Ben was lying "Tennyson …?"

The human looked like he was still sleeping, however, judging by the expression on his face, he didn't seem to be very well.  
"N-No … no, p-please no …" drops of sweat slid down his temples and the neck line.  
He jerked his head, his eyelids tightened as if ...

"... is he having a nightmare?" Attea wondered, blinking, now fully awake.

"Please …" he jerked his head again "J-Just, hurt me … n-not them …"  
Every second that passed he became more and more agitated, so much so that Attea began to wonder if it was appropriate to wake him up.

She went to Neptune when similar incidents happened to her.

**...**

_"Lady Neptune ..." a little Attea, just six years old, whispered.  
__She had sneaked into her father's and his wife's bedrooms without being seen or heard by anyone, she had had such a bad nightmare that she just couldn't manage to be alone in the darkness of her room._

_"Attea ...? Is it you?" the gentle voice of her stepmother answered in a whisper so light that Attea hardly heard it "Is there something wrong?"  
__"I … uh, I had a nightmare" the little girl._

_Indeed, she wasn't even sure if she was more afraid of the nightmare she just had or of risking to wake up her father.  
__Maybe it wasn't a good idea to go there._

_"Oh dear, the same as the other nights?"_

_Attea nodded.  
"I dreamed of mom then ... then she disappeared ..."  
_

_"Come here"_

_"But father …?"_

_"He won't notice anything, I promise"_

_Attea climbed to the side of Neptune's bed, who held her close in a comforting embrace, and fell asleep.  
__The next morning the princess woke up in her own bed._

**...**

"… NO! No, please! Stop …!"  
Ben's screams brought her back to the present.

"Shh, it's all right" Attea murmured, cautiously approaching him "It's okay, you're okay I promise, nothing bad is going to happen …"  
She ran a hand through his hair, in a shy caress.

Wow, Tennyson's hair was so curly and fluffy …

"Please …"

Attea blinked, pulling her hand back …  
… That ... that was stupid.

She had never been good at comforting people and it wasn't like he could hear her anyway.

The empress was about to retire into her side of the bed, determined to ignore the matter if it wasn't that Tennyson had actually stopped fidgeting.  
His expression serene again, perhaps the nightmare had passed ...

-Better for me- Attea thought -At least I can sleep in peace …-

...

**Well, we know Ben suffers from nightmares sometimes and it seems that Attea is not SO bad after all.  
As for Big Chill and Little Chill (soon you will know his name), I always wondered why Ben never worried about the babies he gave birth to, or why he never named them at least again, apart that episode with Ma Vreedle, then I thought Big Chill's instincts maybe had something to do with it.**

**It's clear that Necrofriggians have no problem entrusting their children to natural selection since they let them go alone in space (a bit like the sea turtles that lay eggs on the beach and just leave them there), so I figured Ben would have to fight those instincts to take care of Little Chill.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter ^^**

**See you next time!**


	12. A surprise visit

"Do you suffer from nightmares often?" the new empress of the Incursean empire noticed Ben's shoulders stiffen at the question.

The hero had silency risen up to to check his child, after the baby woke up yipping.

Consequently when Attea had woken up she found the other side of the bed empty.  
For an crazy moment, mostly caused by the confusion typical of the awakening, she had thought that Tennyson had run away, but then she had simply found him standing in front of the frozen cot of the little bug trying to calm him down.  
It looked like he was checking the baby's bandaged wing when she asked the question.

"… Nightmares?" the human repeated, in an apparently uncaring tone as he looked Little Chill's wing "It's almost better little guy"  
"You were fidgeting in your sleep last night" Attea said "I thought you had one"

"Really? I don't know, I don't remember …" Ben dismissed, hoping to end the discussion there "You know, that's kinda creepy to stare at people while they sleep"

"Well, it's kinda creepy to stir and murmur during your own sleep too, Tennyson" Attea said narrowing her eyes.

In reality Ben never remembered anything of what he dreamed, IF he dreamed, but when it came to nightmares on the other hand he remembered very well the feeling of loss and anguish that left inside him.  
And if the nightmares in question were particularly strong, he would wake up in the middle of the night with tears in his eyes and his shirt stuck on his sweat.  
In those cases he could no longer sleep until the next morning.

He generally had nightmares during times when he was particularly stressed or worried for some reason.

Anyway, Ben just decided to ignore her, preferring to focus on Little Chill.  
Through the Omnitrix he had taken a photo of the bandaged wing and sent it to Azmuth to get some advice, although apparently it didn't seem to be anything particularly serious.

"Ben-Ben-Ben!" the little Chill calls out for him.

"Ssshh it's ok, it's ok …" Ben murmured softly.

The omnitrix emitted a slight "beep", after which the small holographic image of Azmuth appeared above the watch.

-I figured you would call me for the status of the Necrofiggian's wing, so I recorded this message- the hologram said -Fortunately for you, even the Necroffriggian babies have a very high healing factor, if well cared for obviously, so just keep the baby clean by washing him with very cold water, don't use too much soap and make sure you don't get his wings too wet …-  
Said that, the registration ended.

"Well, the smartest being in three (maybe five) galaxies has spoken" Ben smiled as he carried Little Chill towards the bathroom "Let's go take a bath Specter!"

-Specter?- Attea thought, raising an eyebrow while she stayed on her side of the bed waiting for Ben to come out.

She actually expected the hero to avoid the topic "nightmares", after all, why on earth would he have had to confide about it to the one who had forced him to leave his own planet?  
She didn't even know why she had wasted time asking him.

Just because for a moment it seemed to her that they had something in common, but still …  
-… I wonder what kind of nightmares can torment the "Universes greatest hero"-

A little later Ben came out of the bathroom with Little Chill, or better, Specter in a towel.

The little chill unwraps itself from the Towel, while Ben layed him down on the bed, and shook himself like a dog scattering droplets of icy water everywhere.

Specially on Attea "Hey, watch it bug!"

Ben laughed, watching the scene with barely concealed satisfaction.  
"Come on, honey" he teased, sarcastically treading on the last word "Specter is just playing, aren't you Specter? Yeah, you are just playing"

"Ben-Ben-Ben!" Specter squeaked cheerfully.

"Sure, he does" Attea hissed.  
Then she looked at the little one, who in turn began to stare at her with his innocents, HUGE, green eyes and …

… Damn it, how could an bug like that be so cute?

"What kind of name is Specter anyway?" She snorted.

"What do you mean? It's mysterious and spooky, it's perfect"  
"It's stupid, how about … Indigo, instead?" Attea suggested casually "It sounds much better for him"  
"Indigo?"  
"Everyone knows that indigo is the color of nobility, and since you are now royalty so does your little bug"  
"Seriously? And exactly what makes you believe you have any say about it? He's my … uh, little Necrofriggian, so I decide the name!" Ben said indignantly.  
"But I'm actually the one who can get him what he needs, am I?"  
"This has nothing to do with it …!"

The discussion about Little Chill's name actually continued, at times, until the two of them went down to breakfast.

"What's your problem? He's MINE, so only I can decide the name!"  
"Yeah, but he lives in MY room and eats MY metal objects!"

"SPECTER!"

"INDIGO!"

"Why not BOTH?"  
Neptune's suggestion pushed through their discussion with impressive simplicity, drawing the two's attention to the Atlantean.

"What?" Ben said, not convinced at all.

"The baby seems to appreciate both" the woman pointed out "Look …" she clearly repeated both the names, distancing them well from each other to see which sounds the little one answered.  
In both cases the little Chill, who was gnawing on a metal fork, made cheerful verses and flapped his wings.

"See?" Neptune smiled "He likes them both"

"Ah! See? At least the bug has shown to have a minimum of good taste" Attea agreed.

"Well, if he likes both of them ..." muttered the boy.

At the end, Specter Indigo Tennyson didn't sound too bad.  
The rest of the day, Ben spent it in the company of Jades, who apparently had officially become her personal servant, along with Armand, and Specter since Attea had to deal with ... more urgent business.

The little Necrofriggian was happily clinging to Ben's shoulder, while the hero and Jades walked through one of the corridors of the royal palace.  
"Now that you are married we can finally finish the tour of the palace" Jades exclaimed excitedly "I couldn't wait to show you the gardens! They are cared for by a dear friend of mine, Lillylia, She's a Eukaryotalis, you know? From planet Florya …"

And Ben actually liked her company, even if he occasionally lost the thread of the speech in the midst of all that chatter.  
Suddenly Jades' cheerful chatter stopped.

"Jades ...?"

Ben's eyes widened when, turning to the alien girl, he saw an Incursean soldier who had immobilized her from behind, covering her mouth with one hand.

"Ummh!" Jades' eyes were wide open and her shoulders trembled with fear.

"What the …?! Let her go!" Ben growled, immediately raising a hand to hit the Omnitrix.  
Strangely, the soldier seemed confused by the order and was about to reply when she was anticipated by another voice.

"Hey! Chill out Tennyson!" the voice said.

A familiar male voice.  
After that, a hand blocked his wrist, before he could hit the Omnitrix.

"Ben-Ben-Ben!" Specter made a small leap, helping himself with the good wing, and jumped into the attacker's face.  
"Hey! Leave me alone you little ..."

"Kevin stop fooling around!"

"Tell it at this little monster!"

-Wait a minute …-  
Another Incursean soldier, a female, whose appearance actually reminded Ben of the frog version of that Disney princess ... what was her name?  
Tiana …? However, she entered Ben's field of vision with his hands raised in peace.

"Ehy, doofus"

"... Gwen?" Ben stopped fighting, and blinked "Is it ... is it really you?"

The female Incursean just smiled, before clapping twice.  
Immediately the figures of what appeared to be four common soldiers disappeared giving way to Gwen, Kevin, Grandpa Max and ...

"... ROOK!" Ben exclaimed.

The one who was still keeping poor Jades immobilized …!

"Let her go Rook, you are hurting her!" he hurried to say "She's a friend!"

"Oh, I'm sorry" his partner apologized, letting the girl go.

Jades ran close to Ben, frightened "M-My lord …?"  
"It's alright Jades" the boy reassured her "They … they are my family …" he murmured then excited, almost not believing it.

"Could someone please take this thing off me, OUCH! Stop it …!"

"Ben-Ben!"

"How did you get here?" Ben asked.  
"Well, let's say we found another way to get here without the plumber's help" said Rook, rubbing his neck "Gwendolyn's illusion spell did the rest"

They were aware that they had arrived too late when they saw the people of Neo Tongue Topia celebrating on the streets, after the announcement of Attea's coronation.  
Unfortunately, passing the Incursian block without being discovered wasn't easy at all, not even for an expert pilot like Rad.  
Nice little person the captain of the "Lovely Duck" spaceship.

Or at least nice as it can be an alien trigger-happy duck of sharp sarcasm and intolerant of other people's criticism.

Full name: Captain Rad Profit-Danger-Trouble Trouble ... and no, it wasn't a joke, those "names" were actually present on his pilot's license.

Rad was a mercenary who mainly dealed with smuggling, often in those sectors of the universe where most of the pilots were afraid to venture, but he didn't refuse other types of job as long as he gets well paid and he never asked too many questions beyond those he really needed.  
Despite everything he really was a professional.

But even that wasn't enough to reach Ben in time.

"Hellooooo?" Kevin groanted.

"Specter, come here!"  
The baby, hearing himself called, stopped pulling Kevin's hair or trying to scratch him and fluttered in Ben's arms before picking his niche on his shoulder.

"Wait a minute, that Necrofriggian ..." Gwen blinked "Ben, isn't he ...?"

"Long story" Ben cut short.

For a moment they all remained silent, as if they didn't know exactly what to say.

"We are so sorry Ben" Gwen started sadly "We ... we tried to get here in time"  
"It's okay, there wouldn't have been much you could have done anyway" Ben interrupted her, giving her a faint smile, then his eyes widened like struck by a sudden realization "Wait, what about Attea? If she finds out that you are here …"

"Don't worry, my spell hid us from the first moment we set a foot on the planet, the only negative thing is that it doesn't last very long but we are safe for now"

Okay, this reassured him.  
"Why did you come? I mean, I'm really happy to see you all, but …"

"We wanted to make sure you were fine" Max said, giving a quick hug to his grandson "And to tell you that, while we were coming here, we started thinking of a plan to get you out of this situation"  
"Really? Which plan?" Ben asked brightening.  
"Actually, we haven't finalized the details yet, but we were thinking of presenting your case to the intergalactic court" Rook revealed.  
"A court? I believed that legally we couldn't touch Attea" Ben said.  
"That's true in theory" Gwen retorted fiercely "We can't be completely sure until we try, right?"

"Yeah, we can't just abandon you here without trying all possible options first" Kevin added "Even if actually I would have already proposed a good plan …"  
"For the last time Kevin, we can't KIDNAP Ben and FAKE HIS DEATH! It's too dangerous, too many variables!" Gwen snapped, rolling her eyes in exasperation "Not to mention that if it even worked it would be impossible to hide something like this forever"

Ben didn't even know why he was smiling at their squabble.  
God, he really missed them.

"We thought there must be some legal quibble, some rights we can appeal to …" Max continued.

"… And would I be free to come back to Earth?"  
Was such a thing really feasible? Could he afford to hope?

"Yes, and ... you and Attea didn't consume the wedding, did you?"

"W-What? Of course not, grandpa!" Ben yelled blushing at the thought "Attea was only interested in taking the throne, she doesn't look at me like that"

"Good"

"Rather, how ... how are my parents?" Ben asked in a whisper.  
"You can imagine that" Max sighed, running a hand over his head uneasily "They are destroyed, Ben"

The boy lowered his head, biting his lip "I'm so sorry ..."

Suddenly Gwen's eyes lit up with pink mana.  
"Someone is coming, we don't have much time anymore" she realized anxiously "We have to go"

"Go then! I don't want you to get into trouble because of me, even though ... it was nice to see you" Ben admitted.  
"You too, Ben" the girl said hugging him tight "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you"  
"Don't say that, I know how much you wanted to attend that school" the hero reassured her "What happend it wasn't your fault, we are no kids anymore, we have our own lives to live"

Gwen just smiled, trying to hold back her tears.

"See you soon, Benji" Kevin joked, beating his fist against Ben's already raised one "Try not to get into trouble as you usually do"  
"Look who's Talking" Ben chuckled "Yeah, see you soon Kev"

Then he turned to Rook "Always cool partner"

"You too, partner" he smiled.

"Try to resist Ben, it is not the end of the matter" Max said.  
-Or at least I hope so- the Magister added mentally.

"Just, tell mom and dad that ..." Ben swallowed "That I'm sorry, and that I love them"

"Of course"

They started to leave when Gwen suddenly turned back.  
"Oh! I almost forgot" she said coming closer to her cousin "I brought you something, here!"

What Ben found in his hands made his eyes widen.

"Charmcaster's old spell book?" he exhaled in surprise ""But Gwen, why ...? You really care about this book"  
Although belonging to one of their most bitter enemies, it was still the tool that had allowed her to start studying magic.  
"I know, it's just ... I know every single spell of this book, I don't need it anymore and I just wanted you have something of mine with you" she murmured softly.  
"Gwen ..."  
"Whenever you feel lonely, try to read it, even if you don't understand it" she continued shrugging "Take care of yourself Ben, we will try to see you again as soon as possible"

Ben nodded "Okay, Thank you"

Then she joined the others, reactivating the illusion spell.

Ben watched them disappear, unable to help but wonder when he could see them again.

**...**

**Yeah, I thought that the idea of kidnapping/fake death could be in Kevin's style, the problem is that it would be impossible in the long run since it would mean forcing Ben to hide forever somewhere, but as you can see that doesn't mean that Ben's family and friends will surrender to the situation so easily.**

**Thank you very much Dinobot king for helping me write this chapter and suggesting part of Little Chill's name, "Indigo".**

**I know some of you are wondering what happened to Looma Red Wind in this story, don't worry ^^ I haven't forgotten about her.  
****Rather, she will appear in the next few chapters.**

**See you next time! ^^**


	13. A matter of honor 1st part

Sandra had always considered herself a strong woman.

At least, as strong as a normal woman with a normal life could be.  
Too bad that for several years now, her life and that one of her family had become anything but normal.  
Plumbers who aren't real plumbers, aliens, psychopathic clowns, witches, warlords ...  
... O war LADIES, given the circumstances.

Always assuming that she could define that damn frog girl, "Lady".

Could this really be the real world?  
The world where his son was forced to live? She thought she could handle it, she thought she was doing a good job.

She had always been proud to consider herself a modern, open-minded mother.  
A mother who allowed her son to grow up without holding him in a bubble.

But now …

The last time she saw her son was through the home TV screen while that horrible reporter, William Harangue, ranted about "how lucky the Earth was to finally get rid of a threat like Benjamin Kirby Tennyson".  
How did dare that bastard to call her son a threat? How did he dare to rejoice in his departure while she was dying inside?!  
Anger had mingled with despair and guilt, inflaming the blood in her veins.

And with each passing day she felt herself slowly consumed by that fire.

She had never left her house since had been taken away.  
Carl tried to be close to her, to give her some comfort, but the truth was that there was very little he could do.

There was only one thing at that time that could have made her feel better, seeing her son but CLEARLY it wasn't possible.

Sandra absentmindedly stirred the amber liquid of her Brandy's glass, the third one that afternoon.

God, she hadn't touched alcohol since her college times.  
The two bottles of Brandy they had in the glassware had been given to Sandra on her birthday, a couple of years earlier, by her parents from Italy.  
Obviously she didn't take it so much to get completely drunk!  
She wasn't letting herself go SO much, only she felt that yoga sessions were no longer enough for her, she just couldn't concentrate.

But maybe it was thanks to those two glasses of Brandy she had already drunk that she didn't scream out loud when, after hearing the bell of the front door and getting up to open it, she found herself in front of an alien creature similar to that one his son calls Four Arms.

"Who … What are you?"

"Is Ben Tennyson your son?!" the creature asked with a clear female intonation, ignoring the woman's question.  
Sandra blinked a few times, stunned "… Yes?"

Could she have drunk more than she thought?

She glanced at the glass in his hand.  
No, she was sure it was her third glass and she hadn't even gotten halfway through it.

"Mother!" the alien happily exclaimed "I'm princess Looma Red Wind, I came with the gifts"

The princess threw a huge sack full of ... something, at Sandra's feet.

Who the hell was that girl now? And why the hell had she just called her "mother"?  
"Excuse me but who are you exactly?" Sandra asked in the calmest and most peaceful tone she could simulate, after taking a sip from the glass of Brandy in her hand.

The alien seemed puzzled by the question.

"I told you, I'm princess Looma Red Wind" she repeated.

"I heard that" Sandra replied coldly, already beginning to lose her patience "I mean, how do you know my son?"

The creature widened all four her orange eyes, shocked.  
"What do you mean: "How do you know my son?", I'm his fiancée!" she protested "I brought the customary offering …"

Looma continued to blather but Sandra's brain had stopped working at the word "Fiancée".

-I can't belive it, another one?!- the woman thought, squeezing her fingers tightly around the glass -First the frog, now the four-armed monster?- Since when there were all these girls in her son's life? But above all, since when did her son stop confiding in her about his love life?  
The only girl she knew he ever dated was Julie.  
Where did all those space sluts come from? Why didn't they leave her family alone? WHY DIDN'T THEY LEAVE HER SON ALONE?

"… Mother?"

Oh look! The alien girl must have noticed Sandra wasn't listening to her, because she had stopped babbling.

Sandra drank half a glass in one shot.  
"Listen ... Looma, isn't it? I don't know what your intentions are since my son never told me about you" she began "But I'm afraid you came late, my son is no longer here"

"What are you talking about?" Looma said, more and more confused as well as outraged by the fact that her beloved never spoke of her with his mother.  
"The Incurseans princess brought him away from me, to force him to marry her" Sandra replied with a bitter smile "They just arrived and ... poof! My son was taken away, without anyone moving a finger to prevent it"

"WHAT?! My beloved has been taked by a rival?"

The princess seemed so upset by the news that for an instant Sandra took almost pity on her …  
"I didn't even know I had a rival! How did she DARE taking my beloved without even CHALLENGE me for his hand …?!" Looma roaded furiously.

… Yeah, ALMOST.

"This is outrageous! I will destroy that husband thief with my own hands!" Looma yelled.

Now THIS caught Sandra's attention.  
"Are you serious?" the woman asked as an idea began to make its way between her thoughts, an idea that until then she would never have considered herself capable of conceiving.

"Of course I am!" Looma replied "It's a matter of HONOR!"

The princess of the deathless Incursean empire huh? Looma had heard of her, her name was Attea if she remembered well.

That disgusting frog probably believed herself untouchable behind her army, but even Looma had one!  
Her father wouldn't deny her his support in this battle and once surrounded the Incursean capital, Attea couldn't have refused to face her in a duel.

"It really is, huh?"

Sandra emptied Brandy's glass, before giving the tetramand princess, for the first time since she showed up at her door, a broad smile.

"Oh, where are my manners? Please dear, come in" the human said softly, surprising Looma "It looks like we have several things to discuss, don't we?"  
Perhaps, if she played her cards right, she would get her son back.

All She had to do was pour more fuel onto the fire …

Good thing that Carl wasn't at home at the moment.

Meanwhile, to Neo Tongue Topia Ben, accompanied by Jades, had hurried back to the rooms he now shared with Attea, intent on finding a safe place to hide Gwen's gift.

Charmcaster's old spell book.

He still couldn't believe that his cousin had entrusted it to him, in so many years she had never let him even touch it.  
It warmed his heart that she had entrusted him with something so important to her just to make him feel less alone.  
He would take care of it.

"Jades, I know that you are a servant and that it's your duty to report when something ... suspicious, happens in the palace, but ..."

"You don't want me to tell anyone about the meeting you just had with your family" Jades concluded for him, with a sweet smile " Don't worry my lord, I won't say anything, besides, I'm your personal servant now, I respond only to you"  
"I'm asking you as a friend, not as a master" Ben wanted to underline.

"And I replied to you as a servant, AND a friend" she said convinced.

"Thank you Jades" Ben smiled.

"Your welcome, Ben"

"Now, if only I could think of a safe place where put the book ..." Ben murmured to himself, looking around the room.

On second thought, it didn't seem like a good idea to hide the book in the room.  
What if Attea found it by accident? She would have wondered where it had come from, and even if she didn't suspect it belonged to him, she would still investigate.

Then how would he recover it without looking suspicious?

"Maybe I have the solution" Jades said, attracting his attention "Do you remember the friend I was telling you about before your family members arrived?"

"The one who takes care of the gardens?" Ben replied.

"Lillylia, exactly!" Jades exclaimed "She is very good at hiding things, I'm sure she can help you …"

The gardens of the royal palace consisted mostly of a series of small artificial ponds, some had small waterfalls while others were large enough to be overlooked by wooden bridges.  
There were several varieties of marsh and aquatic plants to decorate the ponds, some were similar to what could be found on Earth, like water lilies, others were completely different and more … well, "alien like", instead.  
However Ben had to admit that it was a really nice place to visit, starting with the decidedly less suffocating air.

They found Jades' friend near one of the ponds.

When the hero saw her, the first thing that occurred to him was that she came out of one of those fairy tales starring fairies, elves and other creatures of that type.

Lillylia in particular resembled a kind of elf.  
She was small in stature, with lilac-colored skin, small pointed ears and long dark pink hair tied in a small high tail.  
Even her eyes were pink.

She had bright blue marks along the arms and shoulders, similar to tattoos.

"Lillylia!" Jades called, waving a hand.

"Uh? Hey, hi Jades!" Lillylia stood up with a radiant smile.  
From that distance Ben hadn't noticed that she was with her feet inside the pond, the water that came to her mid-calf.

The Eukaryotalis came out of the pond, dripping water everywhere.  
She wore knee-length brown trousers and a dark green top whose edge was rolled up showing her flat belly.  
Her feet were barefoot.

"Hey, Lillylia! How are you?" Jades asked.

"I'm fine, thank you" she answered, then she noticed Ben's presence behind her friend and blinked.  
"Oh! My lord!" she added with a slight bow "Forgive me, I hadn't noticed you"

"Ehy, it's okay" the human said "There's no need for such reverence, just call me Ben"

"… Oh, okay! Indeed Jades had told me that you are not like the other lords of the palace" Lillylia smiled "Did you come for a walk? If you accept advice, the best time to do it, it's in the late afternoon, when the leucojum begin to open their petals for the night"

"Actually, I need your help to do something" Ben admitted "Jades told me you could help me"

"If I can, of course, what do you need?"

"Well, I need you to hide something for me …"

...

**As promised, the entry of Looma Red Wind ^^ Do you remember the episode "Rules of engagement"? Well, here we are!**  
**Too bad that Ben was not around to appreciate Looma's courtship gifts XD**  
**But now, through Sandra, she has discovered what happened and she's more than willing to do justice(?) and … even more.**  
**I wanted to give some space also to poor Sandra, just remember she's not evil, only desperate.**

**And let's meet another OC of mine, Lillylia the palace gardener and Jades' dear friend.**  
**After her, only one more OC character of mine is missing, after which there will be no others.**

**We will see him in the next chapter, see you! ^^**


	14. A matter of honor 2st part

Lillylia led Ben and Jades to a secluded spot in the garden, near a tree that looked very much like a weeping willow on Earth.

The innumerable, small, leaves were of an intense blue color and were thick enough to hide the thorns with which the thin branches were dotted.  
"The thorns of this tree are poisonous" Lillylia explained "Not to the point of killing you but enough to make you spend a bad half day, for this reason those who frequent the garden prefer to avoid going through here" she continued "If the tree is in a bad mood they would risk a painful whip "

"Whip?" Ben repeated perplexed "Wait, do you mean that this tree THINKS?"

"That's right" the Eukaryotalis answered with a big smile "it's a really fascinating plant, it's one of the few species of the plant kingdom to be, in its own way, sensible, on my home planet there are millions of specimens like it, so I know how behave"

"I knew of the existence of aliens with plant-like characteristics" the boy said thinking of some of his alien forms, like Wildvine and Swampfire "I have some alien forms like that in the Omnitrix"

"That's true, but it is one thing to have a look or powers similar to plants, it is another one to really be" Lillylia said, approaching the blanket of blue leaves "Jades, is there anyone in sight?"

"Go ahead" her friend replied, after taking a brief look around.

"Perfect" Lillylia closed her eyes for a moment, joining her hands as if in prayer.

The marks on her arms emitted a brief blue glow.  
The branches of the tree shuddered and, a few moments later, they opened like a kind of curtain giving them access to its trunk.  
"Thanks friend" Lillylia murmured "Quick, come here"

"Wow, how did you do that?" Ben asked.

"Since the dawn of time my people have been blessed with the power to communicate with nature" Lillylia said "We respect it and in return it gives us its fruits"  
"Ah, so you are like Poison Ivy" commented the human.

Lillylia blinked perplexed "Poison-who?"

"Uh, Nevermind ..." Ben smiled, rubbing his neck "Earth mythology"

"Anyway, you asked for a hiding place, right?" Lillylia smiled, indicating an opening in the trunk of the tree "Here it is"  
Ben moved closer, noticing a fairly large empty space inside the trunk.

Or rather, almost empty "Are those … tarts?"

"O-Oh, oops ..." Lillylia blushed slightly, smiling embarrassed "Yeah, I forgot that there were someone left"

"Why should you keep tarts in a tree?" the human asked, curious.

"I can't belive it Lilly" Jades intervened, looking conserned "You did it again?"  
"Did what?"  
"Well, actually I wouldn't be allowed to take them since they are for the lords of the palace, certainly not for the servants" the alien elf admitted "But they are soooo delicious! That sometime I steal a couple from the pan of the day, I just can't help it! You … you won't say anything about it to Empress Attea, right?"  
"Of course not" Ben smiled "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me"

"Ah, thanks boss" Lillylia said.

"Thanks TO YOU, to trust me about it" Ben replied, putting gwen's book inside the tree "This is your hiding spot after all"

Ben was relieved to have found a hiding spot for his Gwen's spell book.  
The ironic thing was that up to five years ago he probably would have complained that he had received a BOOK as a gift, especially if coming from the same cousin who was once a pain in his backside.

He already missed her so much.

"Well, since we are here we might as well eat the tarts!" Lillylia took the two tarts hidden in the tree "Would you like some?" she offered, handing one of the two to Ben, while the other one she splitted it in two to share it with Jades.

"Er, I'm not sure ..." Ben muttered, eyeing the slice of tart suspiciously.

By necessity he had to eat at least some of the food that was offered to him, but that didn't mean that he trusted the alien cuisine.  
Not to mention that the tart's jam had a strange color ... was it blue ... Indigo?

"Come on boss, I told you they are delicious" Lillylia chuckled "I mean, It's no coincidence that they are the favorites of Empress Attea, and she has REALLY difficult tastes"  
"She's right" Jades added "At least try a bite, if you don't like it then you don't have to eat it"

"Okay, okay, I'll try it" the human sighed.

He tried a taste and ...  
… It wasn't bad at all.

Ben blinked in surprise.

"So? What do you think? Was I right or was I right?" Lillyilia smiled in trepidation.

"You said "I'm right" twice" Ben replied, however, continuing to eat.

"Because I know that I am!"

The jam tasted very similar to mango, only sweeter, a sweet that however didn't bother too much combined with the shortcrust pastry.  
It was good, really good …  
-… So, it's not just because it's a royal color that you like the Indigo, uh Attea?- the boy thought with a ironic grin on his lips.

"The jam is made by a fruit called Prape" Jades said "On this planet it is cultivated in large quantities thanks its hot and humid climate"

"I see, thanks for letting me try it, it's very good"

"Achoo!" A small sneeze caught their attention after they had left the hiding place.

"Ooh, look! Someone just woke up from his nap" Ben chuckled, looking at Specter.  
The little necrofriggian had dozed off on his shoulder immediately after the departure of Gwen and the others.

Eh, pulling Kevin's hair must have been tiring for him.

"Aawwh, look at him! He's sooo adorable" Lillylia made an ecstatic verse.  
"And cuuute …" Jades added, pressing her hands on her cheeks.  
"… And incredibly small for a necroffrigian of his age" a male voice suddenly commented behind them.

"Oh, master Nobody!" Lillylia exclaimed, bowing her head respectfully "I hadn't seen you in the garden"

Ben turned to face another Rospus-like Incursean, only slightly older judging from the wrinkles around his eyes.  
Despite this, he had an very imposing and robust appearance, his hands were wide, hard and calloused, typical of those used to working hard but at the same time the clothes he wore certainly didn't seem like those of a servant or a regular Incursean soldier …  
They looked more like those of a Lord.

Not to mention that Lillylia had just defined him with the title of "Master".

He had bottle green skin and dark blue eyes, like a stormy sea.  
Or, at least, one of them was like that, cause' the other eye was more clear, opaque ...

-It's blind- Ben realized, surprised.

"Hello Lillylia" the Incursean greeted in an extraordinarily polite tone that Ben didn't expect, not from an Incursean "How are you?"  
"Very well, thank you sir" the girl answered smiling.

She seemed strangely comfortable talking to him, despite he was an Incursean.

"Jades" the alien frog continued, looking at the other servant.

"Master Nobody …" she greeted.

Only then, his gaze falled on Ben "Ah, greetings to you too, young warrior"

-Young warrior?-  
"Oh, uh … hello?" Ben wasn't sure how to behave, if it was someone like Rospus or some other Incursean servant he probably would have answered badly, or he wouldn't have answered at all, considering the subjects.

But this guy ...

He certainly didn't convey the same aura of superiority or malevolence as Rospus, nor of racism towards other species than weren't the Incursean one.

"I didn't expect to find you in the gardens, but it's really a nice day, it would have been a shame to spend it closed in the palace"  
"Yeah, I guess so ... uh, sir …?"

"My lord, this is Master Nobody" Jades came to his aid "Former high commander of the Incursean army and current weapon master, he was one of the strongest soldiers of his generation" she continued "Now he is in charge of training new recruits, or at least some of them, the best soldiers came out of his armory, including Empress Attea actually"  
"Wait, YOU trained Attea?" Ben said surprised.  
"Indeed I did, emperor Milleous entrusted her education in the arts of war to me because he knew I was the best, he ALWAYS knew that …" the last part of the sentence seemed directed more to himself than to Ben, in a tone that smelled of rancor.

"… In all honesty, I have to admit that our empress was one of the best students I have ever had in the last twenty years" the old soldier concluded.

"Wow …"

Well, now he knew from who she had learned to fight so good.

"Master Nobody, he is …"  
"You can save formal presentations dear, I know very well who this boy is" Nobody stopped Jades "In fact I doubt that there is still someone here who doesn't know you, Benjamin Tennyson, especially after the wedding"

"Really? Now that you've mentioned it, I actually don't remember seeing you there" Ben noticed, raising an annoyed eyebrow at the mention of the wedding.

"Oh right, I guess I owe you too my most sincere apologies for my absence" the Incursean admitted "But I will tell you what I already told to your wife little while ago, formal events and parties definitely never were for me"  
"Did you see Attea little while ago?"  
"Yes, I met her in the garden a little while ago, she seemed thoughtful" Nobody said "Anyway, I must say I have followed your "hero" career with extreme interest, you managed to do extraordinary things with the Omnitrix for being so young"

"Uh, thanks …?"

"Do you mind if I take a look on it?" Nobody asked, holding out a hand.

"I don't think it's the case" Ben replied suspiciously.  
"Please, do you really think I would try to steal it from you right here? Right now?" the alien frog declared "Beside, I know that the First Thinker has programmed his creation so that it answers only to you"

Well, effectively …

However, Nobody took Ben's wrist before he could take a decision, bringing the Omnitrix to his eye level.

"Hey! Who told you to touch?" Ben protested.

Nobody's grip was strong, but not tight enough to hurt him.  
"Ah, I see that it's a different model from the last photos I saw on Extranet" he simply commented "This seems easier to access the list of available alien forms, although I wouldn't use it anyway …" then he let go of Ben's wrist.  
"Er, you're aware that we're talking about the most powerful device in the universe, right?" the human replied, perplexed "Everyone would desire to use it"  
-Often for the wrong reasons- he thought.

"And fight inside a body that's not what i was born into? No thanks" was the replica of the Incursean "I am more for the old school, hell, if it was up to me, I wouldn't even rely on guns"

"Really? Why?"

"Guns are the weapons of cowards!" and he looked mortally serious as he said it "The most honorable way to fight is the hand-to-hand combat or with the blade, which reminds me …"  
He pulled something out of his tunic and then handed it to Ben "This is for you"

"What is it?"

"Your wedding gift …"  
… Wait, was it ... was it the sheath of a DAGGER?

"I don't think you're an expert on weapons, but this one is special" Nobody explained "The blade of this dagger is made of obsidian vibranium, a very rare alloy …" he said "… Difficult to work because it's extremely hard, alloys like this take a long time to be sharpened"

Ben pulled the dagger out of its scabbard.  
The blade was approximately 11 inches long with a double curve line and it was shiny black crossed by green veins.

Towards the tip it assumed transparency similar to glass.

"Ben-Ben!" Specter leaned forward to look better, curious.  
He even tried to reach out one of his little hands to touch it "Wooow, don't even think about it Specter!" Ben said, pulling the dagger away as far as he could "You could cut yourself"

"This dagger belongs to a couple of twins, there are ONLY two blades made like this" Nobody concluded "Attea has the other one, I thought they were the best gift for a married couple of warriors"

"Thanks, I suppose …" Ben murmured in surprise.

"Very well, now if you don't mind I think I'll go back to my walk" master Nobody said, starting to move away "Oh! In case you want to learn how to use that dagger properly, come and visit me in the armory" he added before finally taking his leave.  
"I would be happy to see the hero of the universe in action, and who knows? Maybe you could also train with your wife sometimes, Jades, Lillylia …" he greeted the servants with an polite nod, after that he went away.

...

**Well, despite everything, it seems that Ben is bonding well with his new friends ^^**  
**And then, we finally got to know Master Nobody! Weapon master as well as the one who taught Attea to fight.**  
**His appearance should answer the question asked me by lobo solitario, (thank you very much for your interest in this story, my friend J).**

**And I take this opportunity to thank Dinobot King for the "Prape" tards ^^ and all of you who are commenting or even just reading my story.**

**In the next chapter we'll finally have Looma vs Attea! So get ready for some action.**


	15. The Tetramand's arrival

Attea wasn't having a good time.

About three days had passed since her marriage to Tennyson and, consequently, from her coronation.  
She didn't even have the time to sit comfortably on the throne that the war council had already begun to exasperate her!  
Plans of attack, planets to conquer, city to destroy, people to enslave etc, etc ...

Gods! They just couldn't babbling about anything else.

The only moment of peace that she managed to carve out between one commitment and the other was days ago when she met Master Nobody in the garden.

Attea absentmindedly ran her fingertips along the black blade traversed by the purple veins of her dagger.  
A slight smile softened her lips, she really liked that gift.

She would have liked to have been able to go to the armory, train a bit, release stress, like the old days, but she couldn't.

If there was one thing that she had learned for sure, it's that wasn't as difficult to conquer the throne as to KEEP IT.

The only idea of losing the crown before being able to find HER …

What worried her most at the moment was her uncle Rospus.  
Except for the unpleasant encounter in the Neptune's library, she couldn't say that he had done anything to harm her, however she always knew that his uncle was a very intelligent and treacherous type.  
But above all she knew that he wanted the throne exactly like her when Milleous was still in power, albeit not for her same reasons.  
He was just waiting for the right moment to act behind her, she felt it!

Maybe he even intended to use Ben himself in some way.

She hadn't missed those strange, calculating, looks that her uncle occasionally threw at her husband when the human wasn't looking during meals, which they consumed together with the other nobles of the palace in the great hall.

Those looks combined with the insinuations he had made in the library ...

Maybe he hoped to show the council that if she didn't have enough strength to keep her husband on his place, how could she have it to lead their empire?  
It would have made sense considering that Tennyson's attitude certainly didn't help her.  
It's supposed that royal consorts should be submissive to their emperors, but Tennyson, despite not having any contacts with her that weren't the least necessary, challenged her even with just a glance.

A fact that would have caused her problems in the long run.

-I should had a chat with Tennyson about it, one of those days- she thought -Speaking of which, I wonder where he is?-

She hadn't seen him since lunchtime ...

Oh well, he was probably in the gardens.  
Lately Attea noticed that he spent a lot of time there, usually in the company of Jades and their gardener, Lillylia.

Tennyson was trying to urge Indigo to fly again, now that his wing was almost completely healed, mostly to prevent him from lazy by always being stuck dozing on his shoulder, and there was no better place than the gardens to do that.

The sudden noise of an alarm tore her brutally from her thoughts.

"What the …?!" Attea exclaimed, springing to her feet.

That kind of alarm ...  
… No, it couldn't be.

Who the hell could have been crazy enough to attempt to INVADE the capital of the Incursean empire?

"Empress Attea!" an Incursean guard exclaimed.

"What the hell is going on?" she pretended to know.  
"We are receiving the signal of a communication channel from what appears to be the mother ship of the fleet that has just crossed our borders!" the guard explained "Judging from the spaceship models, we suspect they are Tetramand"

"Tetramand?" Attea repeated, blinking in surprise "What do they want?"

"We don't know" The soldier said "Our fleet blocked them midway so the situation is stable, but the mothership's captain claims to speak to you directly, your Majesty ..."

**... **

Here, it had happened!

Ben knew that sooner or later that situation would end up driving him crazy, but he didn't expect it to happen SO soon and, even less, he didn't expect to have a such realistic visual-auditory hallucination so overnight.  
How else could his MOM's presence in the middle of the corridor in front of him be explained otherwise?

"BEN!" aaaand the incredibly SOLID hallucination held him in a suffocating embrace.

"M-Mom?" was all Ben managed to croak, uncertain.

Okay, maybe it wasn't a hallucination after all.  
The four Incursean guards that surrounded them seemed to see her too, judging by their stunned expressions and perhaps even vaguely annoyed.  
Not to mention the presence of two armed TEDRAMANDS, who looked as if they were some sort of escort for his mom.

He was heading for his room, intending to take a nap since the night before he had been unable to sleep, when he was intercepted by that unlikely group.  
Luckily, Specter wasn't with him, but he was already safe sleeping in his cradle of ice.

"Mom, it's ... it's really you?" the hero whispered incredulous.

"Yes honey, it's me" Sandra said, barely holding back the tears while she started to touch him along the shoulders and arms, just to make sure that he wasn't injured "Oh dear, I'm so happy to see you're okay!"

"How did you got here?"

"Oh, why? Aren't you happy to see me, Ben?" the woman asked, in a middle ground between the amused and the excited.  
"Of course I am! But ..."  
"My God, I can't believe you gave yourself away"

A twinge of guilt made its way into Ben's heart at the last sentence.  
"I'm sorry" he murmured, lowering his eyes "I didn't mean to scare you, I had no choice ..."

"Ssssh, I know sweetie it' all right, what matters is that we are together now" her mother smiled, hugging him again "Everything will be fine! You'll see, just let them do everything"

Them ...?  
...Them, WHO? The Tetramands?

What was she talking about?!

"Mom, What are you ...?" Ben began to ask.  
"I'll explain everything later, I promise" Sandra said and, albeit for a moment, her expression grew darker "Just, when the time comes, step aside and don't intervene, okay?"

Step aside? Don't intervene?

The hero didn't know why, but he was starting to have a really BAD feeling about that unexpected situation.  
So much so that it didn't even occur to him to tell her that he had recently seen grandpa Max, Gwen and his friends, who had told him to have a plan to get him out of that trouble.

Anyway the situation became a little clearer once they reached the throne room, where a really pissed off LOOMA Red Wind was arguing with Attea before the entire Incursean war council.

Lady Neptune and Master Nobody were also present with worried look on their faces.

The chattering of everyone in the room stopped as they entered.

"What the ...?"  
"My beloved!" Looma exclaimed happily, completely changing expression as soon as she saw him enter, followed by the guards of the Incursean palace and her escort.

"L-Looma?" Ben couldn't believe his eyes "What ... What are you doing here?"

"Funny, I was going to ask you the same question, husband" the way Attea spoke the last word made him shiver.  
The red of her irises was dark, closer to the hue of the blood than the red ruby it usually had.

She really looked angry too.

"Because you see, princess Looma Red Wind here claims to be YOUR fiancée"

Ooooh, boy ...

Ben blinked, stunned, he had completely forgotten about the situation with Looma "W-Well, I ... I ..." he mumbled uncertainly.  
What was he supposed to say?

"You WHAT, husband?"

Ok, he really didn't like the way Attea kept saing that word to him.

"Oh, look at him" Looma intervened "He is so overwhelmed by the emotion of seeing his REAL betrothed that he can't speak" she added, glancing at the empress.

"Oh yeah, overwhelmed by guilt" Attea hissed back.

"What? I'm not ... This IS NOT my fault!" Ben shouted suddenly "It was Kevin that ...!"  
Wait a minute, why was he trying to justify himself? It was Attea who had wanted at all costs to marry him without having the slightest idea if he was already engaged with someone else.  
And anyway also on the question of "Engaged" there was to be discussed, since he had never agreed to act as Kevin's replacement.  
"... You know what? I don't have to explain anything to YOU" Ben growled.

And here he is again with his defiant attitude, it's so frustrating!

Attea started to reply, but was beaten on time by Looma.  
"You are right, my beloved" the Tetramand princess started "The time for words is over! In fact, now that you are here too, I can finally do what I came for ..."

Then she turned to face the female Incursean.

"Empress Attea, I, princess Looma, of the Red Wind royal house I CHALLENGE YOU, to a duel for the hand of Ben Tennyson"  
"WHAT?!" Ben shouted.  
"And I accept the challenge" Attea replied determined.

"Woah, woah! Easy there, tigress!" the boy exclaimed, waving his arms "I'm not a prize you can win ...!"  
and he was about to add more when he felt his mother's hand resting on his shoulder.

"Sssh I told you, dear" she said "Let them solve this between them"

"But Mom ..." Ben replied, looking at her confused.  
... That look again, but what did she have in mind? And why did she seem so calm?

"Do not fear my beloved, I swear on my honor that I will destroy her for stealing you from me" Looma promised.

"Oh, I will love see you try Flabby Arms" Attea grinned.

"FLABBY?! How dare you?!"  
Looma raised a threatening fist, clearly intent on hitting Attea, who did not seem intimidated at all, but was stopped by Master Nobody.

"Hold back your fury for the duel, princess" he said "Since our empress has accepted your challenge, any attack outside the arena will be considered a sign of aggression"

"Master Nobody is right" Neptune intervened more accommodating "Just ... Just the time to attend to formalities ..."

"Fine" the Tetramand princess hissed.

Immediately all the people present in the throne room dispersed, both Tetramand and Incursean, to begin the preparations.

...

**Hello there! ^^**  
**I'm sorry it took so long, but here we are, another chapter! ****And Looma is here! Ready to challenge Attea.**

**I've been really busy for the past month, and honestly, I didn't even feel like writing, so I tried to start some other new story for other fandoms (first on my Italian account, then even here) thinking that in this way the desire of writing would return.**

**And in some ways it worked :)**

**I hope you'll like this new chapter, see you! ^^**


	16. The duel

"… And remember that Tetramands have a particulary thick and thorny skin, so spare yourself guns, it would be a waste of fire" Master Nobody continued, as he watched his pupil finish getting ready for the duel that would take place shortly thereafter.

"Yes sir" Attea nodded, adjusting one of her gloves.

"The Tetramand princess has the advantage of a superior physical strength, but you are more agile therefore watch not to get caught, stay at a distance, let she make the first move, tire her …"

Another nod.

"… Undermines her balance, tries to send her to the ground, aims her head, her articulations where the skin is thinner"

"Yes sir"

Although she would never admit it, Attea was grateful for Master Nobody's advices.  
Not because she actually needed them, but the awareness of having at least one person who was SINCERELY on her side made her feel relieved.  
She wouldn't have been surprised at all if she found out that the war council (maybe even instigated by uncle Rospus) was already thinking about how take advantage of this opportunity to oust her in case ...

Attea shook her head, no, defeat wasn't an option.

No matter how, she would have won that duel!

She hooked the sheath of the dagger that Nobody had given her to her belt …  
… She was ready.

…

"... So, Looma showed up to our house just to bring some engagement gifts?" Ben said, looking at his mother.

Sandra nodded.  
"I must admit that I was quite surprised when I found her in front of me" the woman commented "Which make me ask: Why didn't you tell me about her?"

Mother and son sat side by side, on one of the highest stands of the arena where, soon, the duel between Looma and Attea would take place.

They were both present the most important noble Incursians with their soldiers, and the Tetramand warriors of Looma's personal escort, who were around sixty.  
Looking at it from above, it could have looked as small stadium, similar to Coliseum.

"Well, er …" Ben put a hand behind his neck, embarrassed "I … I would have told you, it's just ... er, it didn't seem a really important matter to me, that's all"  
"An alien princess who claims you as her boyfriend, isn't it important?"  
"W-Well, it all happened so quickly…"  
"Anyway, I guess it doesn't matter now" Sandra cut it off, with a really tight smile "Soon, all of this will be over and you'll be free to come back home"

She put an arm around Ben's shoulders, squeezing him lightly towards her.

The sound of a war horn rang throughout the arena ending the public voices.  
"Ladies and warriors" Raff's voice took Ben by surprise, he hadn't seen him since the wedding day "Today we are called here, to the arena of duels, to witness the fight between our empress Attea and the princess of the Tetramand royal house Red Wind, Looma!"

A series of excited buzzes ran through the crowd huddled in the stands.

"The rules of this type of duels are simple: Continue fighting until your opponent is unable to fight back, otherwise, everything is lawful"

Ben wasn't sure how he supposed to feel about all of that.

Even if Looma had won, what would have changed? Would he find himself trapped in another marriage? Then why did his mom seem so calm about it ...?

_… and you'll be free to come back home._

Ben felt that bad feeling again "Er, Mom …?"

"Yes, honey?"  
"… What did you say to Looma, EXACTLY, besides ask her to bring you here with her?" the hero wasn't even sure why he asked her such a question.

Sandra seemed to hesitate for a moment, however before she could answer ...

"Oh, luckily I arrived on time!" a voice near them suddenly commented.

"Uh? Armand" Ben exclaimed, blinking.  
"Ehy Ben" the conductoid had just taken a seat next to the boy with a garment in his hands that the latter hadn't seen for more than a week "I heard from Jades what was happening only now, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, is … is that my shirt?" Ben asked, surprised.

"Yes sir, I promised you I'd refurbish it, didn't I?" the alien said proudly "I had come to look for you in your rooms just to give it to you, but I didn't find you …"

"Ben-Ben-Ben!"

"… Oh yeah, on the other hand I found someone else"

"Specter!?"

The little necrofriggian jumped from behind Armand's shoulder to end up straight in Ben's arms, causing some perplexity in Sandra.  
"Doesn't this little thing look like your moth alien of yours with ice powers?" she asked.

"Ben-Ben!"

"Easy little guy … wait, do you mean Big Chill? Yeah, pretty much …" Ben answered.

"Where does it come from?"  
"Well, that's a pretty long story ..."

Sandra frowned "Another secret, Ben?"

"I wouldn't call it a "secret ", but ..."

"Ben!"

"Look, I promise that I will explain this too, okay? Possibly in a more relaxed context" the boy sighed, letting Specter climb on his shoulder "It's just, I need to find the right words to explain it …"

"Oh, they are about to start!" Armand noticed.

Attea and Looma entered the arena accompanied by the whistles and shouts of encouragement from the crowd.

Especially the Tetramand one, whose bombastic voices outclassed the Incursean ones.

Attea wore her purple flight suit with grey gloves, goggles, and the white scarf.  
And, for some strange reason, Ben had to admit that he actually preferred her dressed like that, like a pilot or something.

She also seemed much more relaxed herself than way, instead that slipped into those regal clothes.

The human shook his head, why would he care about how Attea was dressed? He wasn't Armand!

"Let's begin!"

"FINALLY!" Looma shouted, clenching her left fists for a possible double punch "I'm going to break every single little bone of your slender body, frog!"

"You'll have to catch me first, flabby arms" Attea dodged with a leap forward, using her mighty shoulders like a vaulting horse to land behind her "Ah! Too slow …"  
"Ggrrrr!" the Tetramand princess turned aggressively, trying to hit her again.

Attea continued to dodge with rapid external, low and internal inclinations of the torso and head, stepping back.

_Tire her …_

Nobody's words rang in the head of the young empress while she continued to dodge.

"Ggrrr, stay still you ugly ...!"  
"Why? What's wrong, Looma?" Attea chirped with a provocative smirk "Am I too fast for you?"

"Stop running away and face me!"

_… Undermines her balance, tries to send her to the ground, aims her head, her articulations._

Attea let herself go at a rapid inclination of the back outward, which allowed her to slide under Looma's legs and managed to make her fall heavily on the ground with a powerful round ground kick aimed at the ankles.  
Looma lost her balance, falling to the side.

Luckily for her, she managed not to fall completely by leaning on her arms.

"Well, that's all you got?" Attea provoked, taking advantage to jump on the opponent's back "I'm not impressed …"

_Aims her head._

"… Nice helmet though" Attea commented, grasping the pointed ends of Looma's war hat "Do you mind if I take a closer look?" she took the helmet off her head and jumped down, moving to a safe distance before Looma could grab her.  
Ehy, Looma's hair was black.  
Attea threw away the helmet with calculated carelessness, intentioned at making the Tetramand princess even more angry.  
A warrior who fights angrily is a warrior destined to lose.

All this amidst the shouts of encouragement from the crowd, both Incursean and Tetramand.

The duel went on for about a couple of minutes like this, with Looma trying to hit Attea and the latter merely dodging and provoking, waiting for the right opportunity.  
"Wow, I struggled much more when I faced Looma" Ben found himself admitting.  
Then he glanced towards the stands above his, where Nobody and Lady Neptune had taken their seats, albeit a few seats away from each other.

In fact, Rospus was the one sitting next the Atlantean, who doesn't seem really happy about it.

Anyway, even from Nobody's expression it seemed to him that Attea was doing well.  
More than what the hero expected.

"Well, I already knew she could fight …" he shouldn't have been so surprised.

"It seems so?" was Sandra's icy comment.  
Ben gasped, as his mother's grip on his hand tightening, almost hurting.

"Mom ...?"

Attea jumped forward with an aerial somersault landing on the Tetramand's shoulders, after which she settled on a pair of powerful slaps at the height of her ears.  
"Aarrgh!" Looma staggered slightly, stunned.  
"Here we go" said the frog girl before Kneeing at the nape of her neck which, without the protection of the helmet, it actually HURT.

Looma fell to her knees, but at least she managed to grab her opponent by the leg and get she off, throwing her away.

Despite this, Attea managed to land without too much damage, rolling on herself a short distance from the other.  
"You know, for being here to prove your worth to your "beloved", you're not making a really good impression" she grinned.

"At least I have the courage to fight first hand instead of hiding behind my army like you!" Looma hissed.

"What are you talking about? I accepted your little challenge, didn't I?" the other replied, raising an eyebrow.  
Looma had not yet stood up, it was her chance ...

"But what else should I have expected from a coward?" Looma made a mocking smile "Daughter of an even more cowardly empress"  
Attea froze on the spot, the hand that was about to reach the dagger motionless, with its fingers still outstretched.

"What did you just say?"

"That's how they call her, right? The coward empress" the tetramand princess said, with a smirk.

"...Why did they stop fighting suddenly?" Ben murmured, frowning in confusion.

Attea seemed to have frozen on the spot, leaving Looma all the time to get back on her feet and ... talk?  
Too bad that the uproar caused by the crowd combined with the distance made it impossible to understand what the two challengers were saying.

"Did you really think I'd come this far without looking for a bit of information about my rival?" Looma continued beating her fists together Especially if the rival in question was recently crowned empress"  
Attea blinked, without answering.  
"No wonder that someone like you had to stoop to blackmailing my beloved in order to be taken into consideration by your own people, you have dishonor in your blood ..."

"Shut up" Attea hissed.

"... You are not a empress, least of all a warrior and I will defeat you because there is NOT a single chance that someone like you with a similar legacy could beat me in a real duel"

"SHUT UP!"

Attea wasn't sure what was going on, a second before she felt she had the victory in her pocket and the next one she was seeing red.  
How dare that species of four-armed gorilla? She knew nothing, NOTHING!

_A warrior who fights angrily is a warrior destined to lose._

Nobody's words crossed her mind like a white flash, just a second before she was grabbed by Looma.

"ATTEA!" Lady Neptune and Nobody shouted at the same time, horrified.

Blinded by anger, Attea launched herself against the Tetramand, drawing her dagger.  
She had managed to avoid the other's punches by discarding the side with a somersault but it was still too late.

She had come too close.

One of Looma's arms had managed to grab her by the wrist.  
Before she could even realize what was going on, the Incursean found herself slammed against the wall, right on the side of the stands where Ben was.  
Looma held her by the wrist, her grip so tight that she felt her bones dangerously close to breaking.

Then the punches began to arrive.

One, two, four ...  
... Mainly on the chest and stomach.

Ben was watching the whole thing with wide eyes and a feeling of nausea grew in his stomach when he saw Attea spitting blood.  
A grave silence had fallen in the Incursean wing of the arena, while jubilant cries came from that Tetramand.

Attea seemed barely conscious now.

"The outcome of this duel was decided from the beginning" Looma commented, smiling with sadistic satisfaction while throwing away the opponent like a broken doll "You managed to deal some lucky shots at the beginning, but in the end you showed yourself for what you really are, a weakling! You are not worthy of being Ben Tennyson's wife, I AM!"  
Attea lay motionless on the ground, barely coughing.  
She must have had some broken ribs, maybe even his right arm, damn …  
Moving her head to the side, she noticed that she had fallen just a few centimeters from her dagger and a spark of hope pushed her to try to stretch her healthy arm towards it.

If only she could reach it ...

_Then what?_ The rational voice in her head mocked _Would you stab Looma's ankle?_ Well, always better than nothing.  
Her stubbornness simply refused to give up.

Moreover, if she had managed to make the Tetramand fall to the ground, perhaps she would have had a chance.

Pity that Looma had already reached her by now.

Looma raised one foot just above his head.

Ben tensed.  
No, Looma couldn't do it, she wouldn't ...

Attea was on the ground, she could no longer fight, right?

It wasn't necessary ...  
"Farewell, fake empress" Looma hissed.  
… crush her skull!?

"Ben, don't ...!" for a moment Sandra saw only green.

Ben's hand had never reached the dial of the Ominitrix so quickly, hoping it was quick enough ...

...

**Hello guys! ^^**  
**Sorry again it took so long, but at least there is some action, right? Now, I would like to clarify that Attea could have won the duel if she had not foolishly thrown herself against Looma in an attempt of frontal attack, dictated by an attack of childish anger (perhaps not so childish from her point of view but still …).**

** I mean, Attea is actually an excellent fighter and during the series we got to see it several times, even against Looma (see "Catfight"), so I think that her only problem is that sometimes she behaves in a childish way when things don't go the way she wants or she feel insulted.  
**

**And in this case then Looma hit a particularly painful nerve.**

**Anyway, I hope you'll like this new chapter, see you! ^^**


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